Miami-Dade County, FL Food Trucks & Mobile Vendors: Sidewalk & Mobile Vending (2026)
Key Facts
- Public right-of-way vending
- prohibited outright
- Private-property vending
- requires a Certificate of Use
- Operating hours
- 7 a.m.-10 p.m. weekdays
- Residential setback
- 20 feet from lot line
- Geographic scope
- unincorporated Miami-Dade (UMSA) only
Summary
In unincorporated Miami-Dade County, mobile food operations cannot set up on a public sidewalk or right-of-way at all: they must vend from approved private property under a County Certificate of Use.
(1)Mobile operations are permissible only in the following zoning districts:(a)BU, IU, urban center, urban area, and GU (where trended for industrial or business use);(b)residential zoning districts on properties having a current certificate of use as a museum, hospital, school, or religious facility... (5)Mobile operations shall not be located on the public right-of-way.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 135).
Full Breakdown
Code of Miami-Dade County § 33-14.1 flatly bars mobile operations, including mobile food service, from the public right-of-way, sidewalks and streets are off-limits everywhere. A vendor must instead operate on private property in a BU, IU, urban center/area, or trended-industrial GU district (or on qualifying institutional-use residential sites), obtain a Certificate of Use, stay 20 feet from residential lot lines, cap the vending footprint at 600 square feet, and run only 7 a.m.-10 p.m. weekdays / 7 a.m.-11 p.m. weekends. This applies in unincorporated Miami-Dade County (UMSA) only, Chapter 33 zoning does not reach the 34 municipalities, each of which sets its own vending rules.
Violations & Fines
Operating a mobile food unit on the public right-of-way, or without a Certificate of Use, is unlawful under § 33-14.1(C); the Director can revoke an existing CU immediately if a vendor breaks its terms, and county code enforcement can cite unpermitted right-of-way vending under Chapter 8CC.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a food truck park and sell on a sidewalk in unincorporated Miami-Dade?
Where can a mobile food vendor legally set up instead?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Miami-Dade County
Florida rules heatmap·Compare Miami-Dade County to another location·View the Florida food trucks & mobile vendors overview
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