May 18, 2015
Mobile Food Vending
Vendor Permit
Division of Planning, Engineering, and Environmental Compliance
City of Monterey
Introduction
The Monterey City Code defines “mobile food vending” as the sale, display, solicitation or offer for sale, barter, exchange,
gift or otherwise, of food or beverages from any vending vehicle on a public street or highway. Additionally, it defines a
“vending vehicle” as any self-propelled, motorized device by which any person or property may be propelled or moved
upon a highway, or which may be drawn or towed by a self-propelled, motorized vehicle, from which foodstuffs are sold,
displayed, solicited or offered for sale, bartered, exchanged, given or otherwise, not including those vehicles moved
exclusively by human power like a push cart or bicycle-drawn cart.
Permits, Licenses and Inspections Required
The following permits, licenses and documents are required for mobile food vending:
1. A vendor permit issued by City of Monterey Planning Office.
2. A business license issued by City of Monterey Revenue Office.
3. An encroachment permit issued by City of Monterey Permits and Inspections Office, when long-term operation
applies (longer than one (1) hour at any one location).
4. Health Permit issued by Monterey County Department of Health. https://www.mtyhd.org/
A complete Mobile Food Vending Vendor Permit application will consist of the following:
 A completed Vendor Permit Application form with filing fee.
 A Monterey County Health Department Permit, including Vehicle Identification Number (VIN)
 Color Photographs of Food Vending Vehicle or Trailer
Regulations (Applicable to All 3 Types of Vendor Permits):
1. No mobile food vendor shall display, sell, or exchange any food and/or beverage items within the City limits
unless authorized by a Mobile Food Vendor Permit obtained from the City.
2. Permitted hours of operation are from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
3. No mobile food vending vehicle shall operate in any City-owned parking lot or garage.
4. No mobile food vending vehicle shall operate on Lighthouse Avenue within the limits of the City of Monterey.
5. No mobile food vending vehicle shall operate in yellow commercial loading/unloading zones or white passenger
zones.
6. Vending shall not be permitted directly to persons in other vehicles or from other than the curbside of the vending
vehicle.
7. A separate vendor permit shall be obtained by each vendor and for each separate mobile food vending vehicle,
even when conducted under the same ownership.
8. A vendor permit is nontransferable.
9. The vendor permit must be prominently displayed on the mobile food vending vehicle at time vending occurs.
10. Peddling or vending without a business license, vendor permit or an encroachment permit (when required as
provided in this Article) and/or in violation of conditions imposed in this Section or in a business license,
encroachment permit, or vendor permit is a misdemeanor punishable as provided in the City Code. With respect
to short-term vending operations, each sixty (60) minute period of unauthorized parking beyond the permitted
sixty (60) minute period shall constitute a separate and distinct offense.
11. The Deputy City Manager, Plans and Public Works, or his/her designee has the authority to suspend or revoke
the Vendor or Encroachment permit.
12. The term of the Vendor permit is one year or sooner if terminated, suspended, or revoked.
May 18, 2015
There are three types of Vendor permits:
Short-Term
A mobile food vending vehicle on a public street or highway that remains in the same location no longer than sixty (60)
minutes is classified as a Short-Term Vendor.
Conditions:
 Not conduct business or operate on the same block for any longer than allowed by parking restrictions on the
block, but in no event for longer than sixty (60) minutes, and shall not within a period of four hours again
operate such vehicle within the limits of such block;
 Not conduct business or operate within one block of any public or private school grounds on days that school
is open between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.;
 Not conduct business within one block of any City park at which a City-sponsored special event is taking place
without having obtained a special event permit;
 Only conduct business from a licensed vehicle or licensed trailer on a public street while parked in a legal
parking space;
 At all times operate in compliance with the California Vehicle Code, the Monterey Motor Vehicles and Traffic
Code and all posted parking, stopping, and standing restrictions;
 Not encroach on to a public sidewalk with any equipment or furniture related to the operation of the business
without a minimum eight foot clearance;
 Comply with all applicable food labeling requirements established by the State of California;
 Provided garbage and recycling receptacles for immediate use by customers. Containers shall be attached to
or be part of the food vending vehicle/cart and cannot be placed on a sidewalk or within a designated parking
space; and,
 Pick up, remove and dispose of all garbage, and/or materials dispensed from the vending vehicle and any
residue deposited on the street from the operation thereof, and otherwise maintain in a clean and debris-free
condition the entire area within a 25-foot radius of the location where mobile food vending is occurring.
Long-Term
A mobile food vending vehicle on a public street or highway that remains in the same location longer than sixty (60)
minutes is classified as a Long-Term Vendor.
Conditions:
 Obtain an Encroachment permit from the City, if available at that location and during the requested hours;
 Operate exclusively from the location and for the time periods designated in the Encroachment permit;
 Comply with all applicable laws and regulations relative to access to bathroom facilities;
 Comply with all operating conditions imposed in the Encroachment permit;
 Comply with all applicable food labeling requirements established by the State of California;
 Not encroach on to a public sidewalk with any equipment or furniture related to the operations of the business
without a minimum eight foot clearance;
 Provided garbage and recycling receptacles for immediate use by customers. Containers shall be attached to
or be part of the food vending vehicle/cart and cannot be placed on a sidewalk or within a designated parking
space; and,
 Pick up, remove and dispose of all garbage, and/or materials dispensed from the vending vehicle and any
residue deposited on the street from the operation thereof, and otherwise maintain in a clean and debris-free
condition the entire area within a 25-foot radius of the location where mobile food vending is occurring.
Private Property
A mobile food vending vehicle operating exclusively on private property is classified as a Private Party Vendor.
Conditions:
 Have written documentation of the property owner’s authorization to operate on the property in their
possession while operating in the City;
 Not remain in any single location in excess of two (2) hours in any twenty-four (24) hour period without
obtaining conditional use permit or a temporary use or special event permit as provided in Monterey City Code
Chapter 38;
 The entire operation shall be confined to the private property, including queuing of patrons;
 Comply with all applicable food labeling requirements established by the State of California;
 Provided garbage and recycling receptacles for immediate use by customers. Garbage and recycling
containers shall not be placed in the public right of way, including but not limited to, on a sidewalk or within a
designated parking space; and,
 Pick up, remove and dispose of all garbage, and/or materials dispensed from the vending vehicle and any
residue deposited on the street from the operation thereof, and otherwise maintain in a clean and debris-free
condition the entire area within a 25-foot radius of the location where mobile food vending is occurring.
May 18, 2015
City of Montere y
Planning Office
Mobile Food Vending
Vendor Permit
City of Monterey
PLANNING OFFICE
City Hall
Monterey, CA 93940
(831) 646-3885
Fax: (831) 646-3408
Applicant Information
Applicant’s Name:_________________________________________________________________________________
Business Name:_________________________________________ Email Address:____________________________
Phone # (____)__________________________________________ Cell Phone # (____)________________________
Applicant’s Street Address:_________________________________________________________________________
City:____________________________________________State:__________________Zip:_______________________
Vehicle Information
VIN number:________________________________
Health Department Permit Number:____________________
(Provide Copy of Permit)
Description of Food Vending Vehicle:______________________________________________________
(Truck/Van/Trailer)
Measurements:____________________________________________________________
(Length/Width/Height)
Vendor Permit needed:
(Separate application required)
Short-Term _____
Long-Term _____
Private Property ______
I/we, _________________________________________, agree that my vendor permit will conform to all of the following
conditions and that violation of these conditions may result in revocation of this permit:
1.
No mobile vendor shall display, sell, or exchange any food and/or beverages within the City limits unless authorized by a Vendor
Permit obtained from the City.
2. Permitted hours of operation are from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
3. No mobile food vending vehicle shall operate in any City-owned parking lot or garage.
4. No mobile food vending vehicle shall operate on Lighthouse Avenue within the limits of the City of Monterey.
5. No mobile food vending vehicle shall operate in yellow commercial loading/unloading zones or white passenger zones.
6. Vending shall not be permitted directly to persons in other vehicles or from other than the curbside of the vending vehicle.
7. A Vendor Permit shall be obtained by each vendor and for each separate mobile food vending vehicle, even when conducted under
the same ownership.
8. A Vendor Permit is nontransferable.
9. The Vendor Permit must be prominently displayed on the mobile food vending vehicle at time vending occurs.
10. Peddling or vending without a business license, vendor permit or an encroachment permit (when required as provided in this Article)
and/or in violation of conditions imposed in this Section or in a business license, encroachment permit, or Vendor Permit is a
misdemeanor punishable as provided in this Code. With respect to short-term vending operations, each sixty (60) minute period of
unauthorized parking beyond the permitted sixty (60) minute period shall constitute a separate and distinct offense.
11. The Deputy City Manager, Plans and Public Works, or his/her designee has the authority to suspend or revoke the Vendor or
Encroachment permit.
12. The term of the Vendor Permit is one year or sooner if terminated, suspended, or revoked.
I/we further declare under penalty of perjury that the information contained in this Permit, are true and correct to the best of my/our
knowledge.
To be completed by Planning Division Staff only:
________________________________________
Applicant Signature
________________________________________
Date
Permit No.:____________________________________________
Date Received: __________________
Expiration Date: ______________
Tentative Approval by: _____________________________
Encroachment Needed: YES/NO
May 18, 2015
Cit y of Montere y
INDEMNIFICATION AGREEMENT
On _____________________(date) an application was submitted to the Planning, Engineering, and Environmental
Compliance Division, by ______________________________________ (the “Applicant”). The project, which is
the subject of the application, is described as _____________________________________ (the “Project”).
1. The Applicant agrees, as part of the application, to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless the City and its agents, officers,
attorneys and employees from any claim, action, or proceeding (collectively referred to as “proceeding”) brought against
the City or its agents, officers, attorneys or employees to attack, set aside, void, or annul:
a. Any approval of the above described application by City; and/or
b. An action taken to provide related environmental clearance under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) by
its advisory agencies, appeal boards, or City Council.
The indemnification is intended to include but not be limited to damages, fees and/or costs awarded against the City, if any,
and cost of suit, attorney’s fees, and other costs, liabilities and expenses incurred in connection with such proceeding whether
incurred by the Applicant, the City, and/or the parties initiating or bringing such proceeding.
2. The Applicant agrees to indemnify the City for all of the City’s costs, fees, and damages incurred in enforcing the
indemnification provisions of this Agreement.
3. The Applicant agrees to defend, indemnify and hold harmless the City, its agents, officers, employees and attorneys for all
costs incurred in additional investigation or study of, or for supplementing, redrafting, revising, or amending any document
(such as an EIR, negative declaration, specific plan, or general plan amendment) if made necessary by said proceeding
and if the applicant desires to pursue such approvals and/or clearances, after initiation of the proceeding, which are
conditioned on the approval of these documents.
4. In the event that the Applicant is required to defend the City in connection with such proceeding the City shall retain the
right to approve:
a. The counsel to so defend the City;
b. All significant decisions concerning the manner in which the defense is conducted; and
c.
Any and all settlements, which approval shall not be unreasonably withheld.
The City shall also have the right not to participate in the defense, except that the City agrees to cooperate with the Applicant
in the defense of the proceeding. If the City chooses to have counsel of its own defend any proceeding where the applicant has
already retained counsel to defend the City in such matters, the fees and expenses of the counsel selected by the City shall be
paid by the City. Notwithstanding the immediately preceding sentence, if the City Attorney’s Office participates in the defense,
all City Attorney fees and costs shall be paid by the Applicant.
5. The defense and indemnification of city set forth herein shall remain in full force and effect throughout all stages of
litigation including appeals of any lower court judgments rendered in the proceeding.
____________________________________________________
_________________________________
Signature
Date
MONTEREY FIRE DEPARTMENT
MOBILE FOOD VENDOR REQUIREMENTS
MOBILE VENDING UNIT NAME (print):_____________________________________________
OWNER’S NAME (print):________________________________________________________
If an Ancillary Fire Suppression system is present on unit then a valid, biannual system
testing invoice must be provided.
Fire extinguisher needs one-year servicing.
Provide a minimum 2-A:10-B:C fire extinguisher.
Deep fat fry/flambé cooking shall require a “K” Class fire extinguisher.
Uncontrolled heat in deep fat fryer requires a thermometer.
Provide 36-inch clearance around any heat source.
I have read and agree to abide by these Monterey Fire Department Mobile Food Vendor
Requirements:
OWNER’S SIGNATURE:_________________________________________
DATE:________________________________________________________
MONTEREY FIRE DEPARTMENT
610 PACIFIC STREET
MONTEREY, CA 93940
831-646-3900
S:\600-Public-Safety\602-Fire-Prevention-Education\602-01-Gen-Info\Mobile Food Vendor Requirements Form.doc