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…

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…

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…

Selling on any public street or sidewalk is unlawful citywide except for permitted pushcarts in the Core Downtown Area…

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…

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

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

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 limits temporary outdoor vending to commercial and Design zoning districts, and requires a temporary use permit…

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…

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…