St. Joseph County, IN Food Trucks & Mobile Vendors: Vending Zones (2026)
Key Facts
- Parking rule
- 3 off-street spaces required off ROW (§ 110.21)
- Location
- Must be on private property, not roadway ROW
- Food permit
- Separate annual mobile food permit required (§ 117.02)
- Transferability
- Permit not transferable between owners (§ 117.02(A))
- State rules
- Must meet 410 IAC 7-15.5 and 7-24
- Penalty
- General Section 10.99 fine (§ 110.99(A))
Summary
Once a mobile food vendor moves off the public right-of-way, as Section 110.20 requires, Section 110.21 sets the condition for selling from a truck or roadside stand on property next to a public road: at least three off-street parking spaces must be provided, located off the roadway and outside the right-of-way, before any sale can happen. St. Joseph County has no separate food-truck zoning district; this parking rule decides where a stand can legally operate.
§ 110.21. Parking space required when. No person shall sell produce or merchandise in the open, out of trucks or from roadside stands, on property adjacent to public roadways or public rights-of-way, unless there has been provided parking space for at least three motor vehicles off the public roadway and outside the public right-of-way. § 117.02(A) General. Under no circumstances shall any...mobile retail food establishment...permit issued under this chapter be transferable between locations, operators, and/or owners.(1)It is unlawful for a person to operate any...mobile retail food establishment...in St. Joseph County without first obtaining a valid permit from the health officer.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 3).
Full Breakdown
21 governs where a mobile food seller may set up once they are off the county's rights-of-way: no person shall sell produce or merchandise in the open, out of trucks, or from roadside stands on property adjacent to a public roadway or right-of-way unless the site has parking for at least three motor vehicles located off the public roadway and outside the right-of-way. That three-space threshold, not a zoning-district map, is what actually determines a legal vending location in the unincorporated county; there is no dedicated food-truck or mobile-vending zoning classification separate from this parking condition.
22's matching ban on right-of-way parking by customers, so a compliant vending spot has to be entirely off both the road and its right-of-way, on private ground with room for three vehicles to park. C. C. 7-24. The permit is not transferable between locations, operators or owners, so moving the truck to a new qualifying site does not carry an existing permit with it automatically.
Violations & Fines
Like the right-of-way sales ban, Section 110.21 carries no separate stated fine, so a vendor selling from a site without the required three parking spaces is enforced under the general county ordinance penalty in Section 10.99 by way of Section 110.99. A transient merchant who violates the parking condition also risks forfeiture of the surety bond posted with the merchant license, and a mobile food operator can separately face health department action against the food permit itself.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where can a food truck legally park to sell in St. Joseph County?
Does a food truck need a permit in addition to the parking rule?
Can a food truck use the same permit at multiple locations?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in St. Joseph County
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