Mountain View, CA Food Trucks & Mobile Vendors: Sidewalk & Mobile Vending (2026)

City Code Sec. 15.15 requires every mobile vendor, a term Sec. 15.12 defines to include a 'sidewalk vendor' as that phrase is defined under state Government Code Sec. 51036, to obtain an annual mobile vendor permit from the finance director and pay a fee set by council resolution before vending in Mountain View. Permits run on a calendar-year basis and are issued to the named individual, not a business entity, and the finance director can prorate the fee for a partial-year permit. A handful of items are exempt from the permit requirement under Sec. 15.15.c: leaflets, newspapers, pamphlets, bumper stickers, buttons, and self-produced expressive items like books, art, or photographs.

Locational and operating rules sit in Sec. 15.23. Sidewalk vendors may vend on sidewalks and paved pathways, including inside city parks during park hours, but not within 50 feet of a reserved special-event area, a public facility entrance such as the library or a public pool, or from park benches and tables. At least half the sidewalk width, and never less than 4 feet, must stay unobstructed for pedestrian and ADA access, and no part of a cart or structure may be tied to a public or private structure. Hours are capped at 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., though a vendor can match a later or earlier closing time if an adjacent brick-and-mortar business on the same street operates outside those hours.

Because state law treats sidewalk vending differently from other mobile vending, Sec. 15.14.b carves sidewalk vendors out of the criminal misdemeanor penalty that applies to other mobile vendors and instead limits them to administrative fines: up to $250 for a first violation of vending without a permit, $500 for a second within a year, and $1,000 for each additional violation, with a required reduction to 20 percent of the fine for anyone who qualifies under Government Code Sec. 68632.