Kalamazoo, MI Food Trucks & Mobile Vendors: Sidewalk & Mobile Vending (2026)

Kalamazoo City Code Section 25-66 requires an annual mobile food business license from the City Clerk before a vendor may park, stand, or move a vehicle to conduct business, and the City Commission designates by resolution which streets and public areas allow mobile food business parking. The truck or trailer cannot exceed 36 feet in length or nine feet in width, and a trailer must be detached from its tow vehicle while operating. Under Section 25-67, the service window must face the curb, lawn, or sidewalk, never the driving lane, and no dining area, including tables, chairs, booths, stools, benches, or stand-up counters, may sit within 10 feet of the truck or inside the public right-of-way, including sidewalks.

Vendors must offer a public waste container they empty at their own expense, and gray water dumping on the street is prohibited. Trucks cannot park within 500 feet of a City-licensed fair, festival, or special event without the sponsor's permission, and cannot park within 150 feet of a brick-and-mortar restaurant while it is open. An auxiliary sandwich-board sign is limited to six square feet and three feet in height, kept out of travel lanes with at least five feet of clear pedestrian pathway, and awnings must clear at least seven feet above the ground. Power must be self-contained; no cable may cross a City street, alley, or sidewalk.