Food Trucks & Mobile Vendors in North Carolina (2026)

North Carolina regulates mobile food units under N.C.G.S. 130A-248 and 15A NCAC 18A .2600, requiring uniform statewide…

Apex requires a Town police department permit before anyone operates a mobile food unit, with fixed operating hours…

Mobile food vendors in Burlington must obtain a temporary use permit from the planning department under the Unified…

Any temporary mobile food vendor, pushcart or stand in Asheville needs a temporary use permit from the planning and…

Selling food, beverages or merchandise from a stand, vehicle or person in unincorporated Cabarrus County counts as an…

Cary's LDO requires food truck operators to secure an accessory use permit from the property owner for each site, valid…

Every food truck operating in Chapel Hill needs an annual privilege license under Code of Ordinances § 10-71, plus a…

Charlotte requires every mobile food vendor to obtain a zoning use permit before operating anywhere in the city. The…

Concord requires food truck operators to hold either a Certificate of Compliance for regular, ongoing service or a…

Fayetteville treats food trucks as an accessory use requiring a city administrative zoning permit that fixes the…

Operating a food truck or pushcart in Greensboro requires an annual mobile food vendor permit under Sec. 26-234, issued…

Harnett County limits portable food sales stands to a temporary use permit under § 153.114(C) of the Unified…

High Point requires most mobile food vendors to get a temporary use permit, restricting them to business zoning…

Food trucks serving customers from the public right-of-way in Raleigh must hold a City permit under § 12-1024.1…

Wilmington requires every mobile food unit operator to hold an annual permit from the city manager, issued for the…

Winston-Salem requires a permit from the office of business inclusion and advancement before operating any mobile food…

Kill Devil Hills bans itinerant vendors, the category covering mobile food carts and trucks, everywhere in town except…

Apex requires a police department permit for transient and mobile food vending, bans it in residential zones, and…

Burlington keeps food trucks and pushcarts at least one hundred feet from any school, religious institution or…

Cary requires an accessory use permit for food trucks and sets strict distance rules: 150 feet from homes, 100 feet…

Chapel Hill limits where a food truck can set up: Code of Ordinances § 10-69 confines vending to specific commercial…

Fayetteville allows food trucks on private lots only at an approved, physically marked spot shown on the zoning permit…

Gastonia confines permitted street vending to the central municipal services district, with the city assigning vendors…

Food trucks in unincorporated Granville County must operate on private property with the owner's written permission and…

Greensboro confines sidewalk pushcart vending to the central business ("CB") zoning district and bars mobile food units…

Shelby limits mobile food (pushcart) vending to five city-issued permits at a time, and confines vendors to the…

Asheville's zoning code allows temporary mobile food vendors, pushcarts and stands in every nonresidential district…

Charlotte's Unified Development Ordinance lists Mobile Food Vendor as a 'PC', permitted-with-conditions, use in every…

Concord allows food trucks by right in every commercial, industrial and mixed-use zoning district, plus in multi-family…

Durham's UDO confines temporary outdoor sales, which covers food trucks, to commercial zoning and Design districts…

High Point limits non-exempt mobile food vendors to lots in business, special, or planned development districts where…

Onslow County's zoning code only names food trucks in one context: as an incidental use at a permitted micro-brewery…

Raleigh treats food trucks as "Mobile Retail. Long Term" under UDO Section 6.4.11.C: every truck needs an annually…

Mobile food units are allowed in every nonresidential zoning district citywide, but the Central Business District adds…

Winston-Salem allows mobile food units to vend citywide, but bans vending within the primary pushcart vending area's…

Asheville lets pushcart vendors sell food and merchandise on public sidewalks only with a city permit, and only between…

Burlington food trucks and pushcarts must park on private property with the owner's permission and may not sit in any…

Cary requires mobile food trucks operating on private lots to get a Planning Department accessory use permit, and bars…

Selling food or beverages from a pushcart or trailer on Concord's downtown sidewalks requires a permit from the…

Selling food, beverages or merchandise from a stand on a Gastonia sidewalk requires a downtown street vendor permit…

Selling any goods on a Greensboro street or sidewalk is flatly unlawful under Sec. 26-230(a), with one carve-out…

High Point limits street vending to a few downtown blocks during the semi-annual High Point Market, requiring…

Raleigh peddlers can sell only home-made food, cut flowers, produce and original art from the street under an annual…

Shelby caps active sidewalk vendor permits at five citywide, requires a written application to the city manager, and…

Winston-Salem requires anyone selling food, beverages, or merchandise from a pushcart, mobile food unit, or on foot on…

Apex requires a police-issued permit for any pushcart or mobile food unit, and a separate right-of-way permit with…

Selling food, drinks or merchandise on Charlotte's Tryon Street Mall, the pedestrian stretch of Tryon and Trade Streets…

Durham's right-of-way sales ordinance lets food carts, vending vehicles, and First Amendment sellers operate on paved…

Fayetteville allows food pushcarts on downtown sidewalks only under a city permit issued through the Core Downtown Area…