Doña Ana County, NM Food Trucks & Mobile Vendors: Food Truck Permits (2026)

Under Doña Ana County Code § 350-502(J), part of the Unified Development Code's regulations general to all zones, a mobile food vendor operating outside Las Cruces, Sunland Park, Mesilla or Hatch must clear three requirements before opening for business. First, the operator must follow every applicable state and local law, including the county fire code, zoning code, occupational tax code, and the New Mexico Environment Department's food handler card program; the food handler's card is a prerequisite the code lists by name. 1 of the Land Use Classification Matrix, and it may not sit within 20 feet of a roadway; the vendor also needs written approval from whoever owns the property, or, for a legal parking space, permission from the property owner or business along with adequate parking left over for other uses.

Third, before the county will complete the business registration, the vendor must submit an approved site plan. That site plan has to keep display signs clear of traffic sightlines and the clear sight triangle at intersections, and the operator must keep at least one thirty-gallon waste receptacle on site at all times the truck is open. Because Doña Ana County's zoning and business authority only reaches unincorporated territory, a truck working inside Las Cruces, Mesilla, Sunland Park or Hatch answers to that city's own licensing office instead. Site plan review and business registration are handled through the Community Development Department.