Yakima, WA Food Trucks & Mobile Vendors: Food Truck Permits (2026)
Key Facts
- License required
- business license under YMC 5.52
- Commissary
- must be named on application
- School buffer
- 300 feet during session
- Competing business buffer
- 100 feet
Summary
Yakima food trucks need a business license plus health-district approval and a designated commissary before operating.
"Motorized food preparation vehicle" means a commercially manufactured motorized vehicle or trailer vending unit in which ready-to-eat food is cooked, wrapped, packaged, processed or portioned for service, sale or distribution. Motorized food preparation vehicles include, but are not limited to, food trucks. No person, firm or corporation shall engage in the business of a mobile or street vendor without having first obtained a business license pursuant to Chapter 5.52 of the Yakima Municipal Code.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: rev 4980636; v1 updated 2026-08-03; through 08-03-2026).
Full Breakdown
YMC Chapter 5.57 defines a food truck as a "motorized food preparation vehicle" and requires its operator to hold a mobile-vendor business license under YMC § 5.52 before selling. Beyond the base license, § 5.57.030 requires proof of approval from the Department of Labor and Industries, the Department of Health and the Yakima health district, plus a written narrative naming the approved commissary where the unit stores between shifts and where it parks when not operating. Geographic limits in § 5.57.040 bar selling in residential zones (absent a special event), within 300 feet of an open school, and within 100 feet of a competing business or restaurant.
Violations & Fines
Operating a mobile food unit without the business license, or without the health-district and commissary approvals required by § 5.57.030, violates Chapter 5.57; selling within the barred distances of schools, restaurants or competing businesses is a separate violation under § 5.57.040.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a Yakima food truck park anywhere overnight?
Can food trucks operate in Yakima's residential neighborhoods?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Yakima
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