Bowie, MD Food Trucks & Mobile Vendors: Vending Zones (2026)
Key Facts
- License required
- $25 annual fee, City Manager
- School buffer
- 100 feet of school driveway
- Curfew
- No vending 7 p.m. to 9 a.m.
- License term
- One year from issuance
- Default fine
- $100 first offense, $200 after
Summary
The City of Bowie has no separate food-truck ordinance; mobile food vendors fall under Chapter 18, Peddlers and Solicitors, which requires a City Manager license before selling anything of value on Bowie streets. Vendors cannot operate within 100 feet of a school driveway during school hours or peddle between 7:00 p.m. and 9:00 a.m. anywhere in the City.
PEDDLER and SOLICITOR Includes any person who hawks, peddles, or vends or takes orders for any wares or merchandise or service or anything of value upon the streets of the City or any person who goes from house to house to vend, sell, introduce, promote or describe any service, product or thing of value offered by any person or business entity with whom the individual is employed or with whom the individual has a contract or is associated or take orders for any wares or merchandise or service or anything of value either by sample or otherwise. ... It shall be unlawful for any person to engage within the City in the business of a peddler or a solicitor without first obtaining a license as provided in this chapter. ... No peddler or solicitor shall engage in said business within 100 feet of the intersection of any elementary or secondary school driveway at any public road, nor at any place between driveways if more than one driveway exists at any such school, while such school is in session or within one hour before or after such school session. ... It shall be unlawful for anyone to engage in peddling or soliciting in the City of Bowie between the hours of 7:00 p.m. and 9:00 a.m.
Full Breakdown
Chapter 18 defines a peddler or solicitor as anyone who hawks, peddles, vends, or takes orders for wares, merchandise, or anything of value on the City's streets, a definition broad enough to sweep in mobile food vendors operating in the City of Bowie. Section 18-2 makes it unlawful to engage in that business without first obtaining a City Manager-issued license, which under § 18-6 costs $25 and follows a background investigation under § 18-5. Rather than zoning food trucks into specific districts, Bowie controls location and time.
Section 18-12 bars peddling within 100 feet of any elementary or secondary school driveway intersection, or between multiple driveways at the same school, while school is in session or within one hour before or after the session. Section 18-13 sets a citywide curfew: no peddling or soliciting between 7:00 p.m. and 9:00 a.m. A license lasts one year (§ 18-8), must be carried and displayed on demand, and can be suspended up to 90 days or revoked by the City Manager for fraud, misrepresentation, or refusing to leave private property when asked (§ 18-10), with appeal to the Mayor and Council within 60 days (§ 18-7).
Violations & Fines
Violating Chapter 18, including the school buffer or the 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 a.m. curfew, is a municipal infraction under City Code § 1-6, since Chapter 18 is on the list of chapters the Council has declared infractions. Absent a chapter-specific fine, § 1-6C(9) sets the fine at $100 for a first offense and $200 for each subsequent offense, payable within 20 days or contestable at the Administrative Review Board.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Bowie have zones where food trucks can and cannot park?
Do I need a license to run a food truck in Bowie?
Can Bowie revoke a mobile vendor's license?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Bowie
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