Sammamish, WA Food Trucks & Mobile Vendors: Food Truck Permits (2026)

The permit requirement is not a standalone food-truck ordinance; it is a local amendment to the fire code. SMC 16.05.130 adopts the 2021 International Fire Code and, at subsection (6), amends IFC Section 105.6, 'Required operational permits,' to add Section 105.6.30, Mobile food preparation vehicles. That amendment reads: 'A permit is required for mobile food preparation vehicles equipped with appliances that produce smoke or grease-laden vapors or utilize LP-gas systems or CNG systems,' and it adds reciprocity language so that 'valid operational permits issued by any King County Fire Agency are recognized provided that the vehicle and appliances are maintained in accordance with conditions of the permit.' That means an operator who already holds a current permit from another King County fire agency, such as Eastside Fire and Rescue, does not need a separate Sammamish-issued permit as long as the vehicle continues to meet that permit's conditions.

Fire code permit applications generally go through the fire code official under SMC 16.05.130(4) and (5), which require applications 'in such form and detail as required by the fire code official' and set permit fees according to 'the City of Sammamish Fee resolution.' Appeals of a fire code official's decision, including a permit denial, go to the City's Hearing Examiner for an open-record hearing under the appeal provisions the City substituted for the IFC's own appeal section, with the Examiner's decision standing as the City Council's final decision unless timely appealed to superior court.