Kalamazoo, MI Food Trucks & Mobile Vendors: Food Truck Permits (2026)

Section 25-66.A of the Kalamazoo City Code makes it unlawful for any person, including a religious, charitable or nonprofit organization, to operate a mobile food business in the City without a license from the City Clerk. Under § 25-64, a mobile food business is any portable, non-permanently-attached vehicle, trailer or device equipped to serve food or beverages, while § 25-65 exempts vehicles that dispense food while moving and stop for no more than 15 minutes at a time, such as ice cream trucks. To apply, § 25-66.B requires the vendor's name, phone, email and business address, proof of a Fire Marshal food-truck inspection or a reciprocal agency's approval certificate, the vehicle's year, make, model, VIN and dimensions, a plan for power, water and wastewater disposal, copies of Kalamazoo County Health Department licenses, and two insurance certificates: a general comprehensive liability policy of at least $1,000,000 naming the City as an additional insured, and a public liability and property-damage motor-vehicle policy of at least $1,000,000.

Section 25-66.C requires an annual fee set by City Commission resolution, and § 25-66.D makes the license run the calendar year, January 1 through December 31, nontransferable between people or between businesses under § 25-66.E-F. A vendor operating in violation of any Article IV rule faces a $250-per-day civil fine under § 25-68.A, and the City Clerk can revoke, suspend, or decline to renew the license under § 25-68.B for noncompliance.