Coon Rapids, MN Food Trucks & Mobile Vendors: Food Truck Permits (2026)

Chapter 5-1500 of the Coon Rapids City Code covers transient merchants, peddlers, canvassers, solicitors, and mobile food units together, and Section 5-1504 requires a license for any of them to operate in the City, issued on a per-day, per-week, per-month, six-month, or annual basis. Section 5-1505(1)(i)-(j) exempts mobile food units hired for private residential or commercial parties where food is not sold to the public, but a unit serving a public event still needs a license. Section 5-1506 sets the application content: the operator's name and address, a description of the business and goods sold, the length of time the operator intends to do business, and, for a fixed location, the property owner's written consent.

Section 5-1508(1) sends every application to the Police Chief for a background investigation, but expressly exempts mobile food units from that background-check requirement, and licenses issue within seven business days unless the Chief shows good cause for denial. Section 5-1508(2) requires the City Clerk to confirm with the Community Development Director that a fixed-location site is consistent with the zoning code, and no license issues until any required special use permit is granted. Section 5-1509(1) requires the license to be conspicuously displayed at a fixed business location.

Section 5-1513(10) caps mobile food unit operation at the same property at 21 days per calendar year, citing Minnesota Statute 157.15, Subdivision 9. Section 5-1516 has the Police and Community Development Departments track complaints and violations and report them to the City Clerk, who can suspend or revoke a license under Sections 5-1517 and 5-1518 for unlawful operation, fraud, or a breach of the peace.