Ankeny, IA Food Trucks & Mobile Vendors: Sidewalk & Mobile Vending (2026)

Section 142.02(8)(O) of the Ankeny Code of Ordinances draws a hard line between food trucks or stands and pushcarts when it comes to sidewalks. No mobile food unit of any kind, other than a pushcart, may be placed on a public or private sidewalk anywhere in the City. A pushcart may locate on or adjacent to a sidewalk, but only when it is part of an approved public property special event permit issued by the City Clerk's Office; outside of a permitted event, even a pushcart cannot set up on a sidewalk.

Whenever a pushcart is allowed, the operator must still maintain a minimum 48-inch open walkway for passing pedestrians, and must position the cart and any waiting customers so they minimize encroachment into that 48-inch path. This sidewalk restriction sits alongside the chapter's broader performance standards: units must keep patron waiting areas out of the public right-of-way and vehicle travel lanes under Section 142.02(8)(N), and may not otherwise place pushcarts on a sidewalk except within that special-event framework. Because the sidewalk rule applies City-wide regardless of zoning, a vendor who wants sidewalk presence in Uptown Ankeny or Prairie Trail has to route through the special event permitting process described elsewhere in Chapter 142 rather than a standalone sidewalk-vending license.