Lafayette, LA Food Trucks & Mobile Vendors: Sidewalk & Mobile Vending (2026)

Chapter 70, Article II, Division 2 of the Lafayette City-Parish Code of Ordinances governs street and sidewalk vending under the label 'peddlers.' Sec. 70-36 defines a peddler broadly as anyone who offers goods, merchandise, or services for sale or rental 'in any structure or building which does not have a certificate of occupancy, or in any outdoor location or locations, upon or along any street, sidewalk, right-of-way, public space or park', squarely covering street vending. Sec. 70-61, 'Required,' states: 'It shall be unlawful for any peddler and/or door-to-door vendor to offer for sale and/or rental, exhibit for sale and/or rental or exhibit for the purpose of taking orders for sale and/or rental, any goods, merchandise and/or services without first obtaining a permit from the Lafayette City-Parish Consolidated Government.' Sec.

70-62 sets the price at a $125.00 permit fee, plus a $25.00 surcharge under Sec. 70-64 for each assistant, associate, or employee beyond the first two working under that permit. Sec. 70-63 requires a written application at least ten days before the vendor's first sale, listing the applicant's name and address, the selling location (or a statement that sales are door-to-door only), and, for entities, corporate or partnership paperwork plus a $5,000.00 surety bond, waived only for vendors selling agricultural or seafood products they harvested or bought directly from farmers or fishermen.

Sec. 70-65 caps most permits at six months unless the vendor sells at least six hours a day, five days a week, at the permitted location, and the permit must be displayed where the public can see it. Sec. 70-1 applies this whole chapter both inside the city and in unincorporated Lafayette Parish.