Aiken County, SC Food Trucks & Mobile Vendors: Vending Zones (2026)

Under Sec. 20, vendors are not a by-right use anywhere in unincorporated Aiken County; they are permitted only where Table 1 of the zoning use table lists vending as a conditional use for that district, which routes the operator through the planning and development director's conditional-use review before setting up. Once approved, the vending operation itself must sit at least 20 feet back from the nearest street right-of-way and must provide a minimum of two off-street parking spaces for customers. The ordinance is explicit that a vendor cannot solve its own parking requirement by occupying or blocking access to a required off-street parking stall or area elsewhere on the lot, which matters most for vendors operating in shopping-center or commercial parking lots that already carry tight parking ratios.

Signage is capped at one sign per vendor regardless of where it is mounted or displayed, and the code goes out of its way to state that advertising wrapped or painted onto the vending vehicle itself counts as that one sign. Any sign is further capped at 10 square feet and must otherwise comply with the county's general sign standards in article VI of chapter 24, meaning a vendor cannot use a larger vehicle wrap to get around the 10-square-foot ceiling.