Bonita Springs, FL Food Trucks & Mobile Vendors: Sidewalk & Mobile Vending (2026)

Division 2 of Chapter 34 is titled the Bonita Springs Restricted Commercial Use of Rights-of-Way Ordinance (§ 34-41). Section 34-40 states its purpose: for the protection of public safety, the city regulates commercial use of the rights-of-way on all roads, streets and highways within the city, citing F.S. § 316.006(2) as the source of the city's original jurisdiction. Section 34-42 then declares all commercial use of those rights-of-way unlawful and lists what is included: selling or displaying merchandise for sale, servicing or repairing vehicles, storing vehicles being serviced, soliciting for the sale of goods, property or services for charitable, educational, religious or political purposes, and displaying advertising that does not comply with chapter 6 of the Land Development Code. The list is expressly not limited to those five items. The printed text speaks of rights-of-way rather than the word sidewalk, so the rule reaches any vending set up in the road, street or highway right-of-way.

Section 34-43 opens with an express prohibition and then carves out six exceptions: city permitted or sponsored special events, newspaper vending racks, bus benches without signs, utilities, commercial loading or unloading when no off-right-of-way loading zone is available, and visitor center designation signs. For special events, during road closures the entity holding the special events permit can solicit sales or donations as a condition of that permit. Section 12-54(e) repeats the point for transient merchants, who cannot sell on the right-of-way of any road, street or highway under the city's jurisdiction. Parks are a separate track: § 28-35 bars stands, carts and vehicles for sale or display on park property unless the vendor is a licensed concessionaire or is authorized by the city council, city manager or park director. Food vendor provisions are cross-referenced in an editor's note to the Land Development Code, § 4-206 et seq., which is a separate publication from the City Code volume this page is drawn from.