Asheville, NC Food Trucks & Mobile Vendors: Food Truck Permits (2026)

Sec. 7-5-3 governs the temporary use permit that Sec. 7-14-2(d)(1) requires for every short-term temporary use, including mobile food sales, pushcarts and stands. No pre-application conference is mandatory, but the applicant is encouraged to contact the planning and development department first. The application must be filed by the property owner or an authorized agent with the development and permitting center, accompanied by a sketch plan showing property boundaries, adjacent uses, the vendor's location on the site, access and parking, and restroom facilities. A permit fee set by the City of Asheville Fees and Charges Manual must accompany the application, and a separate fire department permit is required under the fire prevention code.

Applicants for an ordinary temporary use event must file at least ten days before the event date; an event of public interest, meaning one expected to draw 100 or more people at a time, needs 21 days' notice and an approved public safety plan. The planning and development director has ten working days to determine whether the application is complete; if the director misses that deadline on a complete application, the applicant's fee is refunded. The director issues the permit only after finding the mobile food use satisfies the standards in Sec.

operating window, the ten-foot right-of-way setback, and the exclusion of the Downtown Design Review Overlay District and Biltmore Village Historic District. No public notice or formal hearing is required for a temporary use permit. Appeals of the director's decision go to the board of adjustment under Sec. 7-6-2, and variance requests go to the same board under Sec. 7-6-1. Mobile food vendors also need a separate mobile food service permit from the Buncombe County Health Department, displayed alongside the city permit on the mobile kitchen.