Lynchburg, VA Food Trucks & Mobile Vendors: Food Truck Permits (2026)

Lynchburg's mobile food vehicle rules in Sec. 27 apply to food trucks, food trailers and food carts selling food at retail, though the section exempts meals-on-wheels vehicles, ice cream trucks and home delivery services. Before opening for business, subsection (d) requires the vendor to obtain a City business license, renewed every year, and the license application must include a sketch of the vehicle's footprint and any related dining or food-service appurtenances, plus written authorization from the property owner for the specific lot where the truck, trailer or cart will operate.

Approval of that application doesn't grant exclusive rights to the location; another vendor could still be authorized for the same spot. Before the license is issued, the vendor must show evidence of all other permits needed to prepare and sell food in the City, meaning the local business license sits on top of, not in place of, health department food-service permitting. Copies of the business license and every other applicable permit must stay in the truck, trailer or cart at all times, and the property owner can be cited for a zoning violation if the lot is later used out of compliance with the section.

Trucks and trailers are further limited to the B-3, B-4, B-5, IN-2, I-1 and I-2 districts, while carts, capped at four feet by ten feet by eight feet and not self-propelled, can also operate in the B-1 and IN-1 districts, and every unit must sit at least 15 feet from driveways, utility boxes, handicap ramps, building entrances and exits, and fire hydrants.