Warren, MI Food Trucks & Mobile Vendors: Sidewalk & Mobile Vending (2026)

Section 24-16 defines a peddler as any person who goes from place to place, on foot, by wagon, vehicle or other conveyance, selling or offering goods, wares or merchandise, a definition that reaches sidewalk food vendors and includes hawkers and hucksters. Section 24-17 bars a peddler from claiming exclusive rights to any location in the public streets or a stationary location, and separately bars operating in a congested area where the vendor's operations might impede traffic or inconvenience the public, so a food cart cannot plant itself permanently on one sidewalk spot.

m. Section 24-19 bars a licensee from shouting, blowing a horn, ringing a bell or using any sound device on the streets, alleys, parks or other public places to attract attention to goods for sale. Licensing sits in Division 2: Section 24-31 makes it unlawful to peddle without first obtaining a license from the city clerk, and Section 24-32 requires an application with the applicant's name and address, a description of the business and goods, a recent 2-by-2-inch photograph, fingerprints, a criminal-history statement, and a physician's statement within ten days certifying the applicant is free of infectious or communicable disease.

Section 24-33 requires the police commissioner to investigate the applicant's moral character before a license issues, and Section 24-35 requires the clerk to issue vehicle license plates reading Licensed Peddler. Section 24-34 waives the fee for honorably discharged veterans with at least 180 days of active duty or a service-connected disability, and Section 24-36 lets the clerk issue fee-free special permits to nonprofit enterprises and to blind persons after council approval. Section 24-20 requires any peddler to exhibit the license to a police officer or private citizen on request.