La Habra, CA Food Trucks & Mobile Vendors: Food Truck Permits (2026)

Chapter 10.58, adopted by Ord. 1751 in 2014, requires a separate city business license for each and every food vending vehicle operating in La Habra, on top of any other permit the code otherwise requires. Section 10.58.030(B) then layers on twenty specific operating rules: the vehicle must display its health or food-handling permit and its business license in conspicuous view; it cannot run flashing or distracting electronic signs; it must stay at least 300 feet from a school building's property line between 7:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. on a school day, unless the school district authorizes it in writing (an exception that does not reach high school buildings), 300 feet from the Children's Museum during opening hours, and 300 feet from a park where children regularly gather between 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m.

The vehicle cannot block a driveway or restrict traffic, must carry a refuse container and clean up within a twenty-five-foot radius, and if vending longer than an hour in any 24-hour period must park within 200 feet of an available restroom with the property owner's written permission. Vending itself may occur only after the truck is fully stopped and curbed, only from the curb-side of the vehicle, never to a customer standing in the roadway open to traffic, and never on a street posted 35 miles per hour or faster.

Operators must post their business license holder's name, address and phone number in 4-inch letters on both sides, and restocking on any public street or alley is banned outright. Section 10.58.040 exempts trucks serving employees on private property for 30 minutes or less and city-contracted event vendors; § 10.58.050 lets vendors serve private businesses in commercial or manufacturing zones for up to three hours with the property controller's consent, or serve special events under a special event permit.