On Monday November 3, 2025 the San Rafael City Council approved the final reading of an ordinance to establish a mobile vending permit program in San Rafael.
The program centers around a three-prong approach of (i) strengthening the City’s enforcement tools, (ii) providing multiple paths to legalization, and (iii) supporting local entrepreneurship. The program includes establishing a permitting process for mobile vendors with time, place, and manner restrictions, partnering with Marin County’s Environmental Health Services Division on new enforcement strategies, and funding a community-based organization to provide bilingual technical assistance to San Rafael vendors to help them navigate mobile vending compliance requirements.
City staff will utilize the fall and winter of 2025 to develop bilingual application and informational materials, establish additional enforcement protocols, and outreach to local vendors before implementing the new mobile vending program by the spring of 2026.
More information on the new mobile vending program is available below.
City Council Staff Reports:
Summaries of the Mobile Food Vending Ordinance in English and Spanish: