Puyallup, WA Food Trucks & Mobile Vendors: Vending Zones (2026)
Key Facts
- Zones allowed
- C, MX and M zones, designated parking areas
- Annual limit
- 30 days of site occupation per year
- Permit
- Temporary use permit from planning director
- Stand setback
- 50 feet from gas pumps or flammable liquids
- Permit review
- 28 calendar days for a decision
- Public right-of-way
- Barred except as separately allowed under Title 5
Summary
Food trucks in Puyallup fall outside the mobile-vendor chapter, which covers only ice cream trucks and pedal cabs, and instead run under the city's temporary-use rules. PMC § 20.70.012 lets a temporary food business set up in a designated parking area in a C, MX or M zone for up to 30 days a year, and the development services director can waive that cap for stands kept clear of driveways and fire lanes.
"Food truck" shall mean a motor vehicle, or trailer, used to prepare and serve food and that vends food from a curbside location or on private property. Food trucks that comply with the city of Puyallup food truck program guidelines and have an active food truck license are exempt from this section through PMC § 5.65.130 and/or Chapter 20.70 PMC, Temporary Uses. ... In addition to those temporary uses specified in PMC § 20.70.010, the following categories of temporary uses are permitted in the C, MX and M zones: ... Temporary businesses established for the sale of retail products, services, and food, when located within designated parking areas, subject to not more than 30 days of site occupation and/or operation in any one-year period
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: rev 4985225; v6 updated 2026-07-21; through 07-21-2026).
Full Breakdown
70 PMC, Temporary Uses. 012(4) applies. 012(3) permits temporary businesses selling retail products, services and food from a designated parking area for up to 30 days of site occupation per year; food stands approved by the development services director and kept outside driveway areas and fire lanes are exempt from that time limit. 010(5)(a) allows the same 30-day temporary food business, but only on specifically listed street frontages along 9th Avenue SW, Fairview Drive South and South Meridian near the fairgrounds. 025 apply everywhere a temporary food use operates: it cannot sit in the public right-of-way or on public property except as separately allowed under PMC Title 5, it cannot block vehicle sight distance, it must carry compliant signage, and any temporary stand must sit at least two feet from a side property line, ten feet from a permanent building and fifty feet from a gas pump or flammable liquid storage. 030). Tribal trust land within the Puyallup Tribe's reservation boundary is outside this chapter's reach entirely.
Violations & Fines
Setting up outside a permitted C, MX or M zone, in a residential zone off the listed streets, past the 30-day annual cap, or within the public right-of-way violates PMC §§ 20.70.005, 20.70.010, 20.70.012 and 20.70.025 and is handled through the city's code compliance process. Operating without an active food truck license or breaching the adopted food truck guidelines is separately a Class I civil infraction under PMC § 5.65.140, rising to a misdemeanor under PMC § 9A.05.010(2) on a second violation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a food truck park on a Puyallup sidewalk or street?
How many days a year can a food truck operate at one site?
Does a Puyallup food truck need a permit before setting up?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Puyallup
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Vending Zones in Nearby Cities
How other cities in this county handle vending zones.