Clackamas County, OR Food Trucks & Mobile Vendors: Sidewalk & Mobile Vending (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing section
- Code 7.03.090.L
- Covered items
- Vending vehicles, trailers, RVs, stands
- Trigger
- Obstructs view or endangers road users
- Correction window
- Minimum 10 days after notice
- Penalty basis
- ORS 203.065(1) civil penalty
Summary
County code bars vending vehicles, trailers, RVs and merchandise stands on the traveled roadway or abutting property if they could obstruct the view of or endanger road users. That covers food trucks and carts parked to sell along a public right-of-way.
L. Regulations on Obstructing View by Vending or Advertising Merchandise – No person shall allow the following things to be present on the traveled portion of the roadway or on property abutting a road, if it could obstruct the view of, or cause danger to, persons who use the road:
1. Any vehicle that facilitates vending or merchandise sales;
2. Any object or structure that facilitates vending or merchandise sales;
3. Any object or structure that advertises, sells or offers merchandise for sale;
4. Any utility trailer;
5. Any recreational vehicle;
6. Any mobile or modular home.
M. Prohibition of Gates on Roads – Public roads are open to the traveling public and should not be gated. Only under the most extraordinary circumstances will a gate be allowed. When extraordinary circumstances create an exception, the Board’s express preference will be for permitted gates to be unlocked.
1. No person shall install or allow the presence of any gate that blocks access to a road right-of-way unless:
a. The person has made application to the Board, describing the reasons for construction of the proposed gate, and has paid the required application fee and can obtain the approval of 100% of the land owners that access from or adjoin the road right-of-way to be gated; and;
b. The Board has held a public hearing, and met the notice requirements in ORS 368.086, to give interested parties an
Full Breakdown
L, part of the Road Use Impediments chapter, prohibits allowing several categories of vending-related items to be present on the traveled portion of the roadway or on property abutting a road if the item could obstruct the view of, or cause danger to, people using the road. The listed items are any vehicle that facilitates vending or merchandise sales, any object or structure that facilitates vending or merchandise sales, any object or structure that advertises, sells or offers merchandise for sale, any utility trailer, any recreational vehicle, and any mobile or modular home.
In practice this reaches a food truck, cart or trailer parked on or immediately adjacent to a county road shoulder or sidewalk strip where it creates a sightline hazard, since the rule is triggered by the obstruction risk rather than by a separate vending-permit requirement. The Road Official under DTD administers this chapter and determines whether a parked vending vehicle meets the obstruction standard. Because the rule sits inside the general road-hazard chapter rather than a dedicated mobile-vending ordinance, there is no separate food-truck sidewalk permit process in this code; a vendor's exposure comes from where the vehicle sits relative to sight lines and the traveled roadway.
Violations & Fines
Violations of 7.03.090.L are enforced under 7.03.080.A with civil penalties set at the amounts authorized by ORS 203.065(1). The county issues a notice under 7.03.070 requiring correction within a minimum of 10 days before pursuing Compliance Hearings Officer proceedings, injunction or abatement.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a food truck park on a sidewalk or shoulder to sell in unincorporated Clackamas County?
Is there a specific food-truck sidewalk vending permit in the county code?
What penalty applies to an illegally parked vending trailer?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Clackamas County
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