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

Marin County Code § 5.34.040 separately regulates vending that occurs within the right-of-way of a county-maintained road, as opposed to sidewalks, parks, or other public places covered generally by Chapter 5.34. It is unlawful to sell, hawk, or peddle any merchandise, article, or item within a county road right-of-way without first securing an encroachment permit from the Marin County Department of Public Works, in addition to any Chapter 5.34 peddler's license or other required permit. Encroachment permits under this section are issued under the general encroachment-permit procedure of Chapter 13.12.

The annual fee is two hundred dollars, or any part of a year, and the board of supervisors can raise or lower that fee by amending the public works fee ordinance codified at Chapter 3.48. Section 5.34.040(4) authorizes the director of public works to adopt rules and regulations from time to time controlling roadside selling, hawking, or peddling, and requires those rules to be provided to applicants for roadside-vending licenses and permits. Because the section addresses only the county road right-of-way itself, it functions as the zoning line for mobile roadside vending in unincorporated Marin: a food cart or truck working within the paved right-of-way or shoulder of a county road needs this permit on top of any business or peddler's license, while a vendor operating entirely on private property or inside a park or sidewalk area is governed instead by the general Chapter 5.34 licensing rule and any applicable zoning use permit.