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

City Code 10-3-5 governs use of public sidewalks by mobile vendors, defined as operators of a nonmotorized cart on wheels. Applications go to the city manager or designee, and permits run three-year terms, with all applications due by January 31 of the year the term begins. No more than six mobile vendor permits exist at once: every one is for City Plaza except that up to two may instead be assigned to the 100, 200 and 300 blocks of Iowa Avenue. No permittee may hold an ownership interest in more than three cart operations, tobacco and alcohol sales are barred outright, and carts must operate at minimum from May 1 to October 1 each year.

The city manager must grant or deny an application in writing within 60 calendar days, checking that the assigned location won't block the emergency/service lane or impede pedestrian flow, that the cart is no larger than 4 feet by 9 feet by 8 feet, that the vendor has secured off-site storage and Johnson County health department approval, and that all fees and an indemnification agreement are on file. Permits and their locations cannot be sold, transferred or assigned. The city may revoke a permit for misstatements in the application, operating outside permit terms, lapsed insurance, or a public-safety emergency declared by the police or fire chief, and can eliminate the whole program on 120 days' notice to permittees.