Waynesville, MO Food Trucks & Mobile Vendors: Food Truck Permits (2026)

Section 740.020 of the Waynesville Municipal Code, adopted by Ordinance 2441 on October 15, 2020, classifies mobile food vendors as merchants under Chapter 700 and requires every operator to procure a business and occupation license from the City Clerk before doing or offering to do business. That City license is conditioned on the operator first acquiring the appropriate license or permit from the State of Missouri, and the resulting license must be displayed in full view of the public while the vendor operates. Section 740.030 sets three tiers of annual fees based on the vehicle: a food vending cart pays $30, a mobile unit between a half-ton and one-and-a-half tons pays $50, and a mobile kitchen of one-and-a-half tons or more pays $75, with fees prorated the same way other Chapter 700 licenses are under Section 700.060.

The Chapter defines a mobile food vendor broadly to include catering trucks, mobile kitchens, food vending carts and temporary food stands, but excludes vendors who continuously stop and go without parking to serve customers at one spot, and excludes roadside produce vendors who fall under a separate license category. Once licensed, the operator still has to comply with the operational rules in Section 740.040, covering where the vendor may park and how it must handle trash, signage and lighting.