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

SMC § 15.05.050(F) amends International Fire Code Section 105.5 and adds Section 105.5.32, Mobile food preparation vehicles, to Shoreline's adopted fire code. Any mobile food preparation vehicle equipped with appliances that produce smoke or grease-laden vapors, or that uses LP-gas or CNG fuel systems, needs an operational permit from the fire code official before it can operate in the city; the fire code official may accept a permit already issued by another approved agency instead of requiring a separate Shoreline permit, which lets a truck that already holds a King County or other jurisdiction's fire permit avoid duplicate paperwork.

Operational permits generally, under amended IFC Section 105.1.2, run either for a prescribed period or until renewed or revoked, and Section 105.5 lets the fire code official charge annual fees for each type of operational permit. Because the trigger is the cooking equipment and fuel system rather than the food itself, a cold-food cart or a truck with only electric appliances and no grease-laden exhaust falls outside Section 105.5.32's permit requirement, while a propane griddle or a charbroiler with a grease-laden exhaust hood brings the vehicle squarely inside it.

The same LP-gas installations on a mobile food unit must also meet the NFPA 58 standard Shoreline substitutes into its Mechanical Code under SMC § 15.05.010(C), so a propane-fueled truck effectively answers to both the operational permit rule and the installation standard.