Merced County, CA Food Trucks & Mobile Vendors: Vending Zones (2026)

260 of the Merced County Zoning Code governs mobile food vending in the unincorporated county. Semi-mobile food vendors, meaning licensed vehicles that serve only one site per day, are allowed only in zones where the use is listed as allowed under Article 2 of the Zoning Code, and must first obtain an Administrative Permit approved by the Director, with the site plan stamped by the County Division of Environmental Health before it goes to the Planning Department. The permit must stay with the operator at all times and cannot transfer to another operator; a change in ownership needs only a Minor Modification rather than a brand-new permit.

Semi-mobile vendors serving one site a day must meet the zone's development standards for setbacks, paved parking, landscaping and signs, provide toilet facilities or a written joint-use agreement, keep hours set case-by-case in the Administrative Permit, and cannot exceed 16 hours on site in a day. Wastewater cannot be released on site or into storm drains or irrigation systems, and the vendor must supply solid waste and recycling receptacles and keep the site neat and orderly. All temporary food vendors, semi-mobile or fully mobile, are barred from diverting vehicle or pedestrian traffic, blocking visibility to nearby approved activities, or increasing access problems for neighboring uses.

Fully mobile food vendors who move to more than one site each day face a lighter standard: they are limited to a maximum of one hour at any single site and do not require a land use permit at all, since their transient, short-stop model does not trigger the same zoning review as a vendor parked at one site for a full shift.