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Martin County, FL Food Trucks & Mobile Vendors: Vending Zones (2026)

Significant Restrictions
Compiled from the official code textEditor Martyn O'NeillLast verified September 2026

Key Facts

Allowed location
Existing legally operating commercial business only
Site minimums
1 vendor space, 2 customer spaces, restroom access
Owner consent
Written permission from property owner required
County land
Barred without County Administrator authorization
No animal sales
Selling or trading animals prohibited at any site

Summary

Martin County confines mobile food trucks and itinerant merchants to one type of site: an existing, legally operating commercial business where retail sales are already a permitted use. LDR § 3.209.2.D bars food trucks from vacant land or residential lots, and § 3.209.2.E bans them from county-owned land or road right-of-way without the County Administrator's authorization.

These county ordinances apply to unincorporated areas of Martin County. Incorporated cities within the county may have their own rules that take precedence over county-level regulations.

3.209.2.D.Requirements for itinerant merchants, mobile food dispensing vehicles and seasonal sales.1.The business location for an itinerant merchant, a mobile food dispensing vehicle or seasonal sale shall meet the following criteria:a.The owner of the property has provided written permission to use the site.b.The site shall have at least one parking space for the merchant and two parking spaces for customers.c.Portable toilets, or toilets contained within campers or recreation vehicles. Portable toilets may be used for temporary seasonal sales on vacant lots. ... b.Itinerant merchants and mobile food dispensing vehicles shall be located at an existing legally operating commercial business in which retail sales are a permitted use. 3.209.2.E.Prohibitions.1.Itinerant merchants, mobile food dispensing vehicles, or seasonal sales shall not be located on County-owned land or on County road right-of-way unless authorized by the County Administrator.

View official code

Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 62 | Land Development Regulations: Supplement 62).

Full Breakdown

b of the Martin County Land Development Regulations sets the only permitted location for a mobile food dispensing vehicle or itinerant merchant: the vehicle or vendor must be located at an existing legally operating commercial business in which retail sales are a permitted use. a: a commercial site with ingress, egress and on-site parking, a place of worship, or a community center. 1's threshold requirements: the property owner must give written permission to use the site, the site must provide at least one parking space for the vendor and two for customers, and the vendor must supply portable toilets, or rely on toilets in a camper or recreational vehicle, with portable toilets allowed for temporary seasonal sales on vacant lots.

1 then closes off public land entirely: itinerant merchants, mobile food dispensing vehicles and seasonal sales cannot locate on county-owned land or county road right-of-way unless the County Administrator specifically authorizes it. 2 separately bars any of these vendors from selling, trading, giving away or otherwise exchanging live animals. Because the location rule ties vending rights to an already-approved commercial use, a food truck cannot set up on an empty lot, in a residential driveway, or in an unimproved field even with the landowner's blessing; the host site itself must already be a legally operating retail business.

Violations & Fines

Vending from a site that is not an existing legally operating commercial business, or from county land or right-of-way without County Administrator authorization, violates Sec. 3.209.2.D-E and can be cited by Martin County code compliance with an order to stop. Because mobile food dispensing vehicles are exempt from the 3.209.2.F revocation process, the county addresses a noncompliant location through its standard code enforcement track rather than revoking a zoning application.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can a food truck park on a vacant lot in Martin County?
Not under LDR § 3.209.2.D.2.b, which limits mobile food dispensing vehicles and itinerant merchants to sites that are already an existing, legally operating commercial business with retail sales as a permitted use. A vacant lot does not qualify unless it is being used for a seasonal sale, which has its own separate list of eligible site types under 3.209.2.D.2.a.
Can a food truck set up in a Martin County park or on the road shoulder?
No, not without specific authorization. Sec. 3.209.2.E.1 prohibits itinerant merchants, mobile food dispensing vehicles and seasonal sales from locating on county-owned land or county road right-of-way unless the County Administrator authorizes it. Absent that authorization, a truck parked on a county road shoulder or in a county park is operating unlawfully under the Land Development Regulations.
Does the host business need its own approval for hosting a food truck?
The code requires only that the host site already be an existing, legally operating commercial business where retail sales are a permitted use, and that its owner give written permission to use the site under 3.209.2.D.1.a. There is no separate host-business permit described in Sec. 3.209.2 beyond that written permission and the parking and restroom requirements.

Sources & Official References

Other rules in Martin County

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