Kalamazoo, MI Food Trucks & Mobile Vendors: Vending Zones (2026)

Section 25-67.A of the Kalamazoo City Code confines mobile food businesses to City-designated locations: no operator may park, stand or move a vehicle or trailer to conduct business in any area of the City where the vendor has not been authorized to operate, and it is the City Commission, acting by resolution, that identifies which streets and public areas allow mobile food business parking. Beyond that zoning restriction, § 25-67.J bars a vendor from operating within 500 feet of any fair, festival, special event or civic event licensed or sanctioned by the City, unless the vendor first gets permission from the event's sponsor, a rule aimed at protecting sanctioned event vendors from freelance competition just outside the gate.

Section 25-67.O layers on a separate buffer protecting fixed restaurants: a mobile food business cannot park within 150 feet of an existing brick-and-mortar restaurant while that restaurant is open for business. Section 25-67.K clarifies that holding a mobile food business license does not entitle the vendor to exclusive use of any parking space or service route, so an authorized zone can still be occupied by someone else first, and the truck must comply with all standard parking restrictions. Section 25-67.L further limits private-property vending to sites with the property owner's consent and compliance with the City Zoning Code.

Together these location rules mean a licensed vendor still needs to confirm both that the block is on the City Commission's designated list and that it clears the 500-foot event buffer and 150-foot restaurant buffer before setting up.