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

B, every mobile food vendor operating in Charlotte, defined as a motor vehicle or towed food trailer selling food or beverages directly to consumers that reports to an off-site kitchen for restocking each operating day, must first obtain a zoning use permit. Once issued, the permit stays valid for 365 consecutive calendar days and the vendor can renew it annually rather than reapplying from scratch, a broader allowance than the 90-day permit for a mobile car wash or the 14-day, six-uses-per-year permit for a mobile retail vendor under the same article.

Review escalates once a location becomes a food truck hub: if four or more vendors locate on a single site, the property owner, not the individual vendors, must submit a site plan for zoning review to the Zoning Administrator, the Charlotte Department of Transportation (CDOT), and the City of Charlotte Fire Department, and that approval stays valid for as long as the use continues. Vendors in Neighborhood 1 and Neighborhood 2 zoning districts face an added condition: they can only operate as an accessory use tied to an already-established nonresidential principal use on the same lot.

Citywide, a mobile food vendor cannot sit in a required sight distance triangle, block a driveway or building access, or sit inside a required setback. The UDO took effect June 1, 2023, and was last amended March 23, 2026.