San Mateo County, CA Food Trucks & Mobile Vendors: Sidewalk & Mobile Vending (2026)

Section 5.08.090 targets the equipment, not only the seller. No person shall erect, place or maintain a stand, a vehicle or "any object" on any portion of the right-of-way of any public highway of or in the County of San Mateo for the purpose of peddling therefrom. A folding table, a cart, a pickup bed or a parked food truck all fall inside that language once goods are sold from them on the right-of-way.

Section 5.08.080 closes the other door: no person shall peddle any goods, wares, or merchandise on any portion of that same right-of-way. A seller who walks the right-of-way is barred by § 5.08.080, and a seller who parks a stand on it is barred by § 5.08.090. Neither section offers a permit path. The exemptions in § 5.08.110 are written as exemptions from "the requirements of a License," and none of them mentions the right-of-way bans.

Section 5.08.010 defines a "peddler" as a person with no regularly established place of business who goes from house to house or place to place, or who has a stand or other temporary structure upon or along any public street, alley or other public place, a doorway, or an unenclosed or vacant lot, and who sells and makes immediate delivery of services, goods, wares or merchandise in his possession. A "solicitor" under § 5.08.020 takes orders for items not in immediate possession. Section 5.08.030 requires a license for both, including those soliciting goods shipped in interstate commerce.

Peddling off the right-of-way still runs through the licensing chain. The application carries the applicant's fingerprints on a form issued by the Sheriff of San Mateo County (§ 5.08.040). The License Board refers it to the Sheriff, who investigates the applicant's business and moral character as he deems necessary; an unsatisfactory result means the Sheriff endorses disapproval with reasons and the Board notifies the applicant that no License will issue (§ 5.08.050). A license lasts six months and costs $12.00 per six-month period (§ 5.08.120).

No license is required of farm or ranch owners selling products raised or grown by them from stands on their own premises, so long as building, zoning and sanitary regulations are met, nor of food establishments described in Chapter 5.68, wholesale commercial travelers, or charitable organizations. Self-employed veterans of U.S. Military service do not pay the chapter's fees. Everyone else who peddles or solicits is held to the hours in § 5.08.100.