Tucson, AZ Food Trucks & Mobile Vendors: Vending Zones (2026)

Tucson Code Chapter 7, Article II regulates anyone selling food or merchandise from a vehicle, pushcart, or apparatus at a temporary fixed location, the code's definition of "peddler" explicitly covers a person selling merchandise or food products from a motor vehicle, towed vehicle, or pushcart that can be removed daily. A food truck therefore needs a peddler's license from the director of the department of finance before setting up anywhere in city limits (Sec. 7-27), and the license runs one year from issuance. Location is controlled by Sec.

7-30's setback table: an operation may not sit within 100 feet of a residentially zoned property, within 100 feet of another peddler operation on the same tax parcel, or within 100 feet of another peddler operation on city property or the right-of-way. A separate curb setback applies, the operation must stay 20 feet back from a curb or right-of-way pavement citywide, tightened only in the Downtown and Fourth Avenue Business Zones, where the curb setback drops to 4 feet. Site plans submitted with the license application must show these dimensions, available parking, and where the vendor's vehicle will park (Sec.

7-27(b)(5)-(6)). Vendors selling prepared food must also attach a valid Pima County health certificate to the application. A licensed peddler on city property or in the right-of-way must additionally carry liability insurance of at least $1,000,000 naming the city as an additional insured (Sec. 7-28). The license may be revoked for operating in violation of the article, for a conviction tied to the operation site, or for false information on the application (Sec. 7-32), and a revoked peddler cannot reapply for twelve months.