Gaithersburg, MD Food Trucks & Mobile Vendors: Sidewalk & Mobile Vending (2026)

6 governs mobile commercial uses, the zoning code's umbrella term covering food trucks and other vehicle-based vendors, and subsection (C) is its dedicated signage provision. Beyond signage painted or affixed directly to the vending vehicle itself, which is unrestricted by this subsection, a vendor may set out exactly one A-frame or sandwich-board sign, capped at six square feet on any single face. That sign must stay within 20 feet of the mobile vending unit, so a vendor cannot use it to draw attention from across a parking lot or down the block.

When the sign sits on a public sidewalk, as opposed to private property, the code requires at least five feet of unimpeded pedestrian walkway to remain past the sign, protecting wheelchair users, strollers and ordinary foot traffic from having to step into the street or a landscaped strip. The sign is also explicitly temporary: it must be picked up and removed daily once the vendor ceases business operations for the day rather than left standing overnight or between shifts. 6(A), which carve out delivery vehicles, invited in-person sales calls, city-permitted vendors on public property, farmers markets and roadside assistance vehicles from the mobile commercial use rules entirely.