Raleigh, NC Food Trucks & Mobile Vendors: Sidewalk & Mobile Vending (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing section
- City Code Sec. 12-1024
- Permit type
- Annual, non-transferable
- Non-metered parking cap
- 2 hours per day
- Spacing from competitors
- 50 feet minimum
- Insurance minimum
- $1,000,000 liability
- Permit revocation trigger
- 3 citations per calendar year
Summary
Raleigh peddlers can sell only home-made food, cut flowers, produce and original art from the street under an annual permit, capped at two hours per non-metered space, and must stay at least 50 feet from competing businesses or other peddlers. City Code Sec. 12-1024 sets the product list, insurance minimums and cart specs enforced under the Private Use of Public Spaces Handbook.
Sec. 12-1024. - PEDDLERS' TIME ON STREET LIMITED... (b) Except pursuant to a special event permit, it shall be unlawful to peddle in the streets of the City items other than home-made food goods, fresh cut flowers, fruits, vegetables, nuts, eggs, meat, dairy products, and original artworks and handicrafts produced by the peddler... (4) The peddler shall obey all parking regulations. If the parking space selected by the peddler is not a metered space, the peddler shall park to conduct sales for a maximum of two (2) hours during anyone day... (9) The peddler shall not locate within fifty (50) feet of a fixed-location or City permitted pushcart business of a competing nature or within fifty (50) feet of an outdoor dining space.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 69).
Full Breakdown
City Code Sec. S. 14-4. Outside a special-event permit, peddlers may sell only home-made food goods, fresh-cut flowers, fruits, vegetables, nuts, eggs, meat, dairy products, and original artworks or handicrafts they produced. Peddlers must hold a non-transferable annual permit at the fee set in the City of Raleigh Fee Schedule, comply with all applicable health and food-safety law, avoid impeding or endangering street or sidewalk travel, park in a non-metered space for no more than two hours a day, keep customers off the street itself, promptly remove their own trash, and carry at least $1,000,000 in liability insurance naming the City as additional insured.
Peddler vehicles cannot exceed 3,900 pounds unloaded or extend past their parking space, and peddlers may not locate within 50 feet of a competing fixed business, outdoor dining space, or another peddler. m. m. A permit is revoked after three citations in a calendar year, and violations are misdemeanors that can also draw civil penalties under Sec. 14-1005.
Violations & Fines
Peddling without a permit, or outside the Handbook's approved location, cart type, or product list, is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine greater than $50 under N.C.G.S. 14-4, and separately a misdemeanor under Sec. 12-1024(k) enforceable through civil penalty, injunctive relief, or a combination of remedies; a pushcart permit is automatically revoked after the operator receives three citations, civil or criminal, in any calendar year.
Frequently Asked Questions
What can a Raleigh street peddler legally sell?
How long can a Raleigh peddler park in one spot?
How close can a Raleigh peddler set up to a competing business?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Raleigh
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