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

100, adopted as part of the 2024 rewrite of Title 12 (Motor Vehicles and Traffic), sets two operating rules specific to mobile food preparation units. First, no person may drive or operate a mobile food preparation unit on any Public Place or private property unless all persons within the vehicle are seated. Second, no person may drive or operate such a unit while cooking or food preparation is going on inside it. 010(p), as any highway, public street, way, right-of-way, place, alley, sidewalk, trail, park, square, or any other public property owned or controlled by a government agency, so the seating and no-cooking-while-moving rules reach a mobile food unit operating on streets, City-owned lots, or comparable public property, in addition to private property.

030, which makes any violation of a Title 12 vehicle and traffic provision punishable as an infraction or misdemeanor as more specifically provided in Section 4000 of the State Vehicle Code. 010: a first through third violation of the same provision within a year is an infraction, punishable by the fine set in the City's Infraction and Misdemeanor Bail Schedule, while a fourth or subsequent violation within that year becomes a misdemeanor, punishable by the bail-schedule fine, up to six months in San Diego County Jail, or both. 04, Article V.