Jersey City, NJ Food Trucks & Mobile Vendors: Sidewalk & Mobile Vending (2026)

Chapter 245, Article I governs peddlers, anyone traveling by foot, wagon or vehicle to sell goods, wares or merchandise from place to place, or without traveling, selling from a stationary wagon or vehicle. Section 245-2 requires a peddler's license from the license issuing authority before engaging in business, with the fee set under Chapter 160, Fees and Charges, running from April 1 (not prorated) or charged as a daily rate. Residents holding a state trader's license, and vendors of their own farm, dairy, garden or seafood products or goods of their own manufacture, are exempt from the license requirement.

Section 245-3 additionally requires a peddler's identification tag from the City Treasurer, displayed conspicuously on the vendor's cart or person. For street use specifically, § 245-6 bars peddling inside any special improvement district by block and lot, and limits a vendor using the streets to 20 minutes in one location before having to move at least 100 feet, with a five-hour wait before returning to the same spot, a rule the Department of Public Safety enforces, with an exception for vendors holding a Division of Commerce handicapped vehicle identification card.

A street peddler also cannot set up within 100 feet of a permanent retailer selling the same type of merchandise. Licenses and tags are personal and nontransferable under § 245-4, and can be revoked after notice and hearing under § 245-5 for fraud, misrepresentation, or conduct that breaches the peace or menaces public health or safety.