Changes coming to Seattle food truck rules

Seattle might drop some restrictions for food truck businesses.

The Seattle Department of Transportation is revising regulations that have been in place since 2011, when the city allowed food trucks and carts on public streets and sidewalks. Before 2020, the city issued vending permits for food trucks, carts, and stadium vendors.

Alyce Nelson, public space manager for SDOT’s street use program, said they’re looking to remove some restrictions to allow vending opportunities for new and existing food businesses.

“Some of the restrictions that we had for vending pre-pandemic didn’t seem like they were necessary anymore,” she said.

Such restrictions include prohibiting vending within 50 feet of brick and mortar businesses.

“There’s this great symbiotic relationship between breweries and food trucks,” Nelson said. “A lesson learned from the pandemic is we removed that setback on a temporary basis.”