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

04 regulates catering vehicles (self-propelled vehicles that prepare or dispense ready-to-eat food) on both public and private property. , bars sales within 500 feet of any public or private school, and caps a single stop at 30 minutes. After that 30-minute window the truck must relocate, and at least two hours must pass before that vehicle or any other vehicle operating under permits issued to the same business can return to that location. On private property the rules shift: the operator first needs the written consent of the property's owners and tenants, and the parking period expands to 70 minutes before the same two-hour cooldown applies.

The code defines "one location" broadly, either the single street address or a 300-foot-radius circle centered on the truck, whichever area is larger, closing the loophole of moving a few feet to restart the clock. 04 says so directly. A violation of the section is charged as a misdemeanor, a notably harsher classification than the infractions used elsewhere in Title 7's traffic code, reflecting the City's 1994-2008 amendment history (Ord. 94-2, Ord. 96-14, Ord. 2008-01) tightening enforcement against unregulated street vending.