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

Section 13.50.040(4) of the Placentia Municipal Code sets the location rules for food trucks selling from public streets. Trucks are not allowed within residential zones or parks. Vending is limited to public streets where the authorized speed limit is less than 35 miles per hour, and it is not permitted on any alley, parkway, sidewalk or other public property unless the truck operates under a community special events permit issued under § 23.81.015. A truck must have an unobstructed view of 200 feet in each direction, cannot sit within 200 feet of another mobile food vendor, and cannot vend within 60 feet of an intersection or within 500 feet of any public or private elementary, junior high or high school, again unless a community special events permit covers it.

Time and placement limits follow. Vending cannot run longer than 30 minutes in one location, and the truck must move at least 100 feet between consecutive vending stops. Trucks cannot block a driveway or restrict the free movement of other vehicles, cannot take accessible parking spaces or block the path of travel to them, must park on asphalt, concrete or another hard all-weather surface, and cannot use more than 25% of existing parking spaces. Hours are 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., and each property is limited to four days per calendar week. Lot counts are two trucks on lots of one-half acre or less, three on lots between one-half acre and one acre, and four on lots greater than one acre.

Private property is handled by § 13.50.030, which makes vending from a vehicle on private property unlawful unless the vendor is providing meals to people living or working there for no more than 30 minutes, or the vending is at a community special event. Sidewalk vending is outside this chapter and falls under Chapter 8.10, per §§ 13.50.010 and 13.50.035. Section 13.50.110 exempts pre-ordered deliveries from a permanent business and private catering that is not open to the public.

Every operator needs a city business license under § 6.04.030 and a vendor's permit from the city, renewed annually with fees set by city council resolution under § 13.50.050.