Boulder, CO Food Trucks & Mobile Vendors: Vending Zones (2026)

Subparagraph 9-6-5(d)(1)(A) of the Boulder Revised Code lists the only places a mobile food vehicle may set up: on a lot or parcel in the Mixed Use, Business, Downtown, or Industrial zoning districts; within the public right-of-way in the IS-1, IS-2, IG, IM, IMS, or P zoning districts; in parking lots or other areas within a city park, or in right-of-way abutting a city park, that the city manager designates; as part of an organized event, special event, or street closure permit, or a Chapter 4-12 special festival event, in any zoning district; and at the Boulder Municipal Airport in areas the city manager approves under Section 11-4-4.

Outside of those categories, a mobile food vehicle cannot legally operate. Even within an allowed location, Subparagraph (d)(1)(B) layers on distancing requirements: at least 150 feet from any residential zoning district, unless the vending falls under the city park, organized event, or airport categories; at least 150 feet from any existing restaurant, a requirement the city manager can waive in the BC-1 district if every restaurant within 150 feet signs off; and, for trucks operating in the right-of-way, at least 200 feet from any other mobile food vehicle also in the right-of-way.

Distances are measured from the closest point on the truck's perimeter to the closest point of the residential zone or restaurant property. On top of location and spacing, Subparagraph (d)(1)(C) caps density: no property in the Mixed Use, Business, or Downtown districts may host more than four mobile food vehicles at once. Trucks operating under an organized event or street closure permit are exempt from both the distancing rules and the four-truck cap under Subparagraph (d)(1)(D), but must follow whatever conditions the event permit imposes instead.