Wayne, NJ Food Trucks & Mobile Vendors: Sidewalk & Mobile Vending (2026)

Chapter 60 of the Wayne Township Code governs canvassers, peddlers and solicitors. Section 60-2 requires a written permit from the Chief of Police before anyone solicits in a public or quasi-public place, goes house to house, sells goods by sample or takes orders for goods or services. Applications go to the Police Department Records and Investigation Bureau with a letter from the employer authorizing the applicant, and for events such as parades, carnivals or festivals, a letter from the event organizer or person in charge (§ 60-4). Permits are processed no later than two weeks from submission, carry the permittee's photograph, must be displayed on the person where the public can see it, and expire December 31 of the year of issuance (§§ 60-3 and 60-5). Fees are in Chapter 75.

The operating rules in § 60-7 apply to everyone engaged in these activities, whether exempt from licensing or not. No person has exclusive rights to any location in the public streets or can operate in any congested area where the operation might impede the public. Section 60-7F bars soliciting, canvassing or peddling on any public roadway or right-of-way within the Township, and bars it from a motor vehicle on a public roadway or right-of-way. Section 60-7G bars all of it between 7:00 p.m. and 9:00 a.m. Licensees must carry the license and show an identification card while working (§ 60-7H).

Food vendors working from vehicles have their own article. Article II of Chapter 149 defines an itinerant food vendor as a seller from a vehicle that stays in an area no more than 30 minutes in any given area in one day, requires a Health Officer license, and under § 149-15 bars stopping on any municipal, county or state road or right-of-way or within 1,000 feet of the front entrance of a business holding a Township retail food establishment license. The Township Council can revoke a peddling permit after notice and hearing for fraud, any violation of the article, or operating in a manner that is a menace or nuisance (§ 60-8).