Food Trucks & Mobile Vendors in Charlottesville, VA (2026)
3 verified food trucks & mobile vendors rules for Charlottesville, Virginia, sourced directly from the municipal code and official government pages.
Verified from official government sources
Food Truck Permits
Operating a food truck on private property in the City of Charlottesville, Virginia requires a temporary use permit under the Development Code before a single sale is made. The Zoning Administrator issues the permit for one year, covering up to 10 different properties, once the operator supplies a business license and a state health permit.
Charlottesville Mobile Food Unit Permits
Some RestrictionsCharlottesville Development Code § 3.6.2.D
D. Mobile Food Unit A mobile food unit located on private property authorized by a temporary use permit is subject to the following regulations: 1. No mobile food unit may be operated on private property without the mobile food unit owner or their designee having first been issued a temporary use permit pursuant to this section. 2. A temporary use permit allows the permittee to operate at up to...
Vending Zones
Selling food from a vehicle in a Charlottesville street right-of-way is governed by the City Code's vending-vehicle article, which bars sales in residential zones during evening and overnight hours, keeps trucks off streets posted above 25 mph, and stops them from parking in front of an operating restaurant.
Charlottesville Street Vending Restrictions
Some RestrictionsCharlottesville City Code § 28-158
(a)Whenever a vending vehicle is stopped for the purpose of making sales, it shall be stopped at the right-hand curb of the street in a legal parking space, or if there is no curb, at the extreme right-hand edge of pavement in a legal parking space. No sales shall be made from any vending vehicle to any person not standing on the sidewalk, or where no sidewalk has been installed, not standing o...
Sidewalk & Mobile Vending
Mobile food and ice-cream vendors selling from a vehicle into a Charlottesville street or curb are governed by City Code Article V, §§ 28-151 through 28-162. Trucks can't sell where the speed limit tops 25 mph, must serve only customers standing on the sidewalk, can't park unattended overnight, and must stay 100 feet from schools without written principal consent.
Charlottesville Food Truck Vending Rules
Some RestrictionsCharlottesville City Code §§ 28-151, 28-155—28-158
Vending means the sale of food, drink, ice cream or other frozen dessert to a retail customer within the right-of-way of any public street in the city. ... No sales shall be made from a vending vehicle on any street where posted speed limits are in excess of twenty-five (25) miles per hour. ... No unattended vending vehicle shall be permitted to park on any city street between the hours of 2:00...