Pico Rivera, CA Food Trucks & Mobile Vendors: Sidewalk & Mobile Vending (2026)

Pico Rivera Municipal Code Chapter 5.54 requires anyone conducting sidewalk vending activities, whether roaming or stationary, to apply to the director of community and economic development before setting up a pushcart, stand, display, or wagon on a city sidewalk. The application must list every worker's name and address, the vendor's operating locations, days and hours, receptacle dimensions and photos, and whether food or merchandise is sold; food vendors must attach a Los Angeles County Title 11 health permit and identify their commissary, and every applicant needs a valid California Department of Tax and Fee Administration seller's permit.

Section 5.54.040 also requires the vendor to hold a Chapter 5.12 business license at all times the sidewalk permit is active. The director has 30 calendar days to issue or deny the permit under Section 5.54.050, checking that the vending will not obstruct traffic, endanger public peace, create a fire hazard, or divert law enforcement, and running a state and local criminal-history check under Penal Code Sections 11105 and 13300. Approved permits run 12 months, are non-transferable, and require a new application on any change of ownership.

Section 5.54.070 caps receptacles at four feet in height, width, and length absent director approval, bars chained or unattended carts, and forbids vending citywide from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. daily. Vendors must display the permit and any county health permit conspicuously, keep a ten-foot clear zone around the cart, and maintain a four-foot pedestrian path per the Americans with Disabilities Act. Selling alcohol, cannabis, tobacco, or vape products from a sidewalk cart is flatly prohibited.