Yucaipa, CA Food Trucks & Mobile Vendors: Sidewalk & Mobile Vending (2026)

The City Council adopted Chapter 5.12 through Ordinance 444 in 2024, and the City Manager or a designee runs the permit program. Before operating a cart, a vendor files a written application for an itinerant vendor permit with a nonrefundable fee set by council resolution. The application lists every employee, the cart dimensions with a picture, the intended locations and hours, and whether the vendor will be stationary or roaming. It also requires a LiveScan background check from the California Department of Justice completed within the three months before filing, a California Department of Tax and Fee Administration seller's permit that names the city, and an acknowledgement that the vendor will carry general commercial liability coverage of not less than $1,000,000. Food vendors add a copy of the San Bernardino County health permit, which must be displayed on the cart under Section 5.12.050. The city has sixty calendar days from a complete application to decide. A permit expires within a year, renewal is due at least thirty days before expiration, and permits cannot be transferred.

Section 5.12.100 maps out where a vendor cannot set up: any residential zone, any roadway or median, and Yucaipa city hall. Distance rules apply as well: 200 feet from a police station, fire station or hospital, 100 feet from another sidewalk vendor, 25 feet from a fire hydrant or bus stop, and 15 feet from a street corner, marked crosswalk or business entrance. In city parks, vendors stay 50 feet from an in-use sports field or court and from an in-use playground or pool. Within one block of a school, place of worship or child day-care facility, vending is barred from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on days school is open. Live animals, alcohol, marijuana, tobacco and nicotine products cannot be sold, and no cart can use an open flame.