Whittier, CA Food Trucks & Mobile Vendors: Food Truck Permits (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing section
- Whittier Municipal Code § 5.04.120(29)
- Annual vehicle fee
- $50 per year per vending vehicle
- Special-event vendor tax
- $15 per day if not otherwise licensed
- School buffer
- No vending within 1,000 ft of a school in session
- Required proof
- Health permit shown when applying for license
Summary
Whittier licenses mobile food vendors as "vendors" selling from a vehicle under Municipal Code Section 5.04.120(29), charging fifty dollars per year per vehicle, requiring proof of a health permit for food items, and setting curb-vending and trash-receptacle rules for every truck operating on city streets.
c.Vendor Defined. For the purpose of this chapter, a "vendor" is defined to be any person who solicits, displays, sells or offers for sale, barter or exchange, any goods, wares or merchandise, including any food, either prepared or pre-packaged, produce or beverages, from a vehicle. [...] e.Vendor Fees.(i)Any person or entity owning, operating, or otherwise controlling any business involved in the vending of goods, wares or merchandise from such vehicle shall pay a license fee of fifty dollars per year for each vehicle. [...] f.Regulations Pertaining to Vendors.(i)Any person offering for sale any food items for which a health permit is required by law must show proof of having obtained such a permit when application for license is made.(ii)No vehicle shall be parked, stopped or left standing in any manner which blocks or impedes pedestrian traffic in any public right-of-way and/or vehicular access to any driveway or restricts the free movement of other vehicles upon the public street.(iv)Each vehicle shall be equipped with a trash receptacle of a size adequate to accommodate all trash and refuse generated by such vending.
Full Breakdown
120, subdivision 29 of the Whittier Municipal Code, a "vendor" is any person who solicits, displays, sells, or offers for sale, barter, or exchange goods, wares, or merchandise, including prepared or pre-packaged food, produce, or beverages, from a vehicle. 16. Subdivision (f) layers on operating rules specific to vending vehicles: anyone selling food that requires a health permit must show proof of that permit when applying for the vending license; no vehicle may park, stop, or stand in a way that blocks pedestrian traffic, a driveway, or the free movement of other vehicles; vending on public streets is allowed only after the vehicle has come to a complete stop and parked lawfully at the curb; and every vending vehicle must carry a trash receptacle sized to hold all the trash and refuse the vending generates.
20. Separately, subdivision (f)(vi) bars vending, except by food vending vehicles, within one thousand feet of any public or private school while school is in session, though the city may issue a special event permit allowing it if the risk to children is found unreasonable.
Violations & Fines
Vending from an unlicensed vehicle, or vending in violation of the parking, health-permit, or trash-receptacle rules in Section 5.04.120(29)(f), is treated the same as any unlicensed business under Section 5.04.180: a separate offense for each day of operation. Section 1.08.015 sets the infraction fine schedule at twenty-five dollars for a first violation, fifty dollars for a second within a year, and one hundred dollars for each further violation in that year.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do food trucks need a special license to operate in Whittier?
Can a food truck park anywhere to sell in Whittier?
What happens if a food truck vends without the required license?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Whittier
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