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

54. These fixed-location food trucks are only allowed in zoning districts where the land use tables in Part 2 permit them, and each site needs its own site plan review permit or conditional use permit, with a separate permit required for every additional location the same truck uses. Only one food truck is allowed per developed site, and trucks cannot set up on vacant land unless another permitted use is already operating there or the city approves a dedicated food truck parking area by conditional use permit.

daily unless the site plan or conditional use permit specifies otherwise. 38 without eating into parking reserved for another use, and cannot block driveways or aisles. Signage is limited to the truck itself; no A-frame signs, banners, flags, or portable signs are allowed anywhere on or off the site. Every operator needs a City of Merced business license and must comply with Merced County Health Department requirements covering food safety, an approved commissary, and employee restrooms, since portable toilets are not permitted. A conditional use permit can also establish a multi-truck parking area, in which case the city may require permanent seating, shelters, and refuse containers as conditions of approval.