South Bend, IN Food Trucks & Mobile Vendors: Sidewalk & Mobile Vending (2026)

The rule applies to any vendor holding a mobile food vendor vehicle business license, and covers where and how the truck sits once it's already in an allowed commercial, industrial, or mixed-use zone. Vehicles parked in the downtown business entertainment district can stay up to eight hours, and parking is allowed in any spot that meets the section's conditions, including parallel spaces if all parking and traffic laws are followed; angled or other non-parallel spaces cannot be used for parallel parking. Everywhere else, a vehicle still cannot sit at a fixed location on public or private property for more than eight hours and must be moved from place to place along the public ways.

While parked, the vendor must keep at least five feet of sidewalk clear for pedestrian and wheelchair traffic at all times, with every sale made from the curbside sales window rather than the sidewalk side, and vendors are responsible for making sure customers waiting in line are not blocking the sidewalk themselves. Trucks cannot block an access drive, a fire hydrant, or the public right-of-way, and cannot park within twenty-five feet of a street corner, in a disabled parking space, or in a posted fifteen-minute or one-hour space, including inside the entertainment district. No BBQ pits, canopies, or outdoor or indoor seating such as tables or folding chairs may be set up in connection with the vehicle, and vendors must clear all equipment, containers, and debris from the site at the end of each day rather than leaving refuse in or beside a public trash container.