Southfield, MI Special Events & Permits: Street Fair Rules (2026)

Southfield City Code Chapter 72 governs vendors, defined broadly to include anyone traveling by a mobile vending unit, occupying a lot or structure for less than six consecutive months, or selling from a stationary cart, stand, wagon or trailer outside a building (Sec. 7.51(h)). Ordinarily every vendor must hold an individual license from the city clerk under Sec. 7.53, obtained through the application process in Sec. 7.56, which calls for identification, a description of the goods or services, the dates, hours and locations sought, proof of permission to use the site, and photographs of the applicant.

Sec. 7.59 carves out a narrower path for a single event: where a person sponsors or organizes an event running five days or less at which ten or more vendors are present, that organizer has the option of applying for one license on behalf of all the participating vendors rather than requiring each vendor to file separately. An administrative processing fee still applies under Sec. 7.60, set by city council resolution under Sec. 7.31, and the vendors covered remain subject to the same denial grounds in Sec.

7.62 and revocation grounds in Sec. 7.64 that apply to any other vendor license, including falsified applications, disqualifying convictions, and conduct that creates a public nuisance or endangers public safety.