Bowling Green, KY Food Trucks & Mobile Vendors: Food Truck Permits (2026)

Bowling Green Ordinance BG2019-50 (2019), codified in City Code Chapter 15 (Business and General Regulations) at sections 15-7 (Regulation of Mobile Food Vendors and Pushcart Vendors on City Rights-of-Way) and 15-8.02 (Mobile Food Unit Vendor Regulations), governs food trucks and pushcarts in the city. Any vendor wishing to conduct business on public rights-of-way must obtain a permit through the City's Office of Occupational License (270-393-3000; revenue@bgky.org). Upon approval, the city issues a color-coded pre-numbered sticker for the calendar year that must be affixed to the mobile food unit or pushcart in a publicly visible location. Required insurance under BG2019-50 includes: (1) Commercial General Liability — including contractual liability, bodily injury, and property damage combined at a minimum $1,000,000 per occurrence, $1,000,000 personal and advertising injury per person/organization, and $1,000,000 aggregate; (2) Automobile Liability covering Owned, Non-Owned, and Hired Motor Vehicles at $1,000,000 Combined Single Limit any one accident; and (3) Workers' Compensation at Kentucky statutory limits under KRS Chapter 342, with Employers' Liability of $100,000 each accident, $100,000 each employee, and $100,000 policy limit. Beyond the city permit, mobile vendors must also obtain: (a) a Kentucky retail food permit from the Barren River District Health Department (local health departments are designated to permit mobile food establishments statewide under KRS Chapter 217); (b) a City of Bowling Green Occupational License (business license) from the Office of Occupational License; (c) any required Kentucky Department of Revenue sales-tax / business-tax registration (Kentucky 6% statewide sales tax; Bowling Green imposes an occupational license fee on net profits and wages); and (d) a fire-safety inspection per the city's mobile food unit fire-code guidelines (propane, suppression, exits). Vendors must also acknowledge generator-noise standards and sign a compliance statement as part of the city's permit packet. Operating without the required permit or sticker, or violating BG2019-50's operational rules, is enforced by Code Compliance & Animal Protection (270-393-3444) and adjudicated by the Code Enforcement and Nuisance Board under City Code 2-21, with fines up to $100 per offense and each day a separate offense for general violations of Chapter 15.