Lafayette, LA Food Trucks & Mobile Vendors: Vending Zones (2026)

Chapter 70, Division 3 of the Lafayette City-Parish Code of Ordinances governs where a mobile food establishment permit-holder may actually park and sell. Under Sec. 70-117(a), a truck can only operate where it functions as an accessory use to a lawful, non-residential principal use, it cannot anchor a vacant lot or operate in a residential district as the main use. Subsection (b) bars operation in the public right-of-way outright, and subsection (c) requires the truck to sit on a durable all-weather surface such as concrete, asphalt, or limestone aggregate unless the director approves otherwise.

Subsection (d) caps how many trucks one lot can host at once, scaled to lot size: two trucks on a lot under half an acre, three between a half-acre and one acre, four between one and one-and-a-half acres, and five above that (subject to the director's approval), with mobile food establishment parks, fairs, carnivals, and festivals permitted separately and exempted from the cap. Subsection (e) layers on distance separations from competing food service: 100 feet from the main entrance of any fixed food establishment, 100 feet from any outdoor dining area, and 50 feet from any permitted food-cart location.

Subsections (f) through (k) add operational siting rules, no occupying required or leased parking spaces outside the principal use's off-hours, no blocking handicapped parking, a 10-foot clearance from driveways, sidewalks, ramps, and building exits, compliance with sight-triangle rules, no open-flame cooking within 10 feet of a building, and a 15-foot clearance from fire hydrants and fire department connections. Subsection (l) also bars parking or storing an idle truck visibly from the right-of-way in an RS, RM, or A zoning district, or in any unincorporated residential area of the parish.