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

Section 9-52.080 of the Simi Valley Municipal Code treats a food truck as a temporary use. Subsection B bars any temporary use without a valid Temporary Use Permit (TUP), and subsection D(10) lists mobile food vendors among the uses the Director can approve. Under subsection E the TUP replaces the ordinary Zoning Clearance, the application is filed under Chapter 9-50, and it must be submitted at least 10 days before the proposed start. Affected City departments comment on the file. The Director either grants the permit or defers action and refers it to the Commission, and no public hearing is required for the Director's decision.

Location is the central limit. Under I(9)(b) the site must sit in one of 11 districts: CPD, CN, CO, CR, AI, LI, GI, CI, BP, SR or RCC. The primary buildings on the site must already hold an approved Planned Development Permit or Conditional Use Permit, and a Type 4 Mobile Food Facility must be set back at least 300 feet from any restaurant or coffee shop. A development of up to 150,000 square feet of gross floor area on private non-residential property gets one mobile food vendor, and a larger development gets one additional vendor. Under I(9)(a) the vending area cannot exceed 800 square feet of parking, and only where the property already has the required number of parking spaces. The truck and its tables cannot block an accessible path of travel, required setbacks, loading zones, drive-through lanes, driveways, fuel pump queuing areas or landscaped planters, and 4 feet of clearance to the sky must stay open for pedestrians. The application needs a dimensioned site plan showing the surrounding layout within 300 feet.

Subsection I(9)(g) adds the operating conditions. The applicant must supply notarized written consent from the property owner, a Ventura County Health permit for a Type 1, 2, 3 or 4 Mobile Food Facility, a City Business Tax Certificate, and a valid DMV registration. Hours are 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. Friday to Sunday and 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. Monday to Thursday. Trucks, tables, chairs and umbrellas must leave the premises outside operating hours. The truck can carry one sign of up to 12 square feet, free-standing signs are not allowed, and amplified music is prohibited. The site plan must show the vendor within 30 feet of a trash container, and the operator supplies one if the center does not. The general standards in subsection H also apply: set-up time of no more than seven days, sanitary facilities for staff, and a cleared site within five days after the activity ends. The section was last amended by Ordinance No. 1350, effective July 17, 2023.