Apply for a street vending permit

Street vending permit help

We are one of the largest and most complex municipal operations in the City, with a 1,600-member workforce and a $384 million annual operating budget.

Public Works

We will ask you for information about:
<ul>
 <li>How to get in touch with you</li>
 <li>Your business (like your Business Account Number or BAN)</li>
 <li>What you will sell</li>
 <li>Where you will sell</li>
 </ul>

We are not issuing permits in the following areas: Between Valencia Street and South Van Ness Avenue, including Mission Street, between 14th Street and 26th Street, and the Powell and Market Cable Car Turnaround. Contact <a href="mailto:streetvendorpermit@sfdpw.org">streetvendorpermit@sfdpw.org</a> if you have any questions about your proposed location.

This application will take about an hour if you have your documents.

If you are helping someone fill out this form, use their details, not your own. 
If you are applying for a Street Vending Permit as a nonprofit, enter details for the person we should contact if we have questions.

You must be the business owner or the authorized representative of a nonprofit.

About you

Your BAN is a 7-digit number. If you don't know it, <a href="https://data.sfgov.org/Economy-and-Community/Registered-Business-Locations-San-Francisco/g8m3-pdis/data" target=_new>you can find your BAN</a>.

<div role="alert" class="d-flex flex-items-center bg-green-1 p-3 mt-5 mb-4">
 
 We found the business for your BAN.
</div>

<div role="alert" class="d-flex flex-items-center bg-blue-1 p-3 mt-5 mb-4">
 
 We found the business for your BAN but your business has more than 1 address.
</div>

<div role="alert" class="d-flex flex-items-center bg-red-1 p-3 mt-5 mb-4">
 
 We cannot find that BAN. <a href="https://data.sfgov.org/Economy-and-Community/Registered-Business-Locations-San-Francisco/g8m3-pdis/data" target=_new>Find your BAN</a>.
</div>

About your business

Type of vending

We need to know exactly where you will be selling things. Tell us about the street, cross street, what buildings you will be in front of, and anything else about your location.

The location must be:<ul>
<li>8 feet from Arts Commission approved Street Artist License holders.</li>
<li>A 6-foot unobstructed and accessible path of travel on the sidewalk, which may be increased in certain high pedestrian traffic areas.
<li>7 feet from fire hydrants.
<li>15 feet from bus zones or blue zones.
<li>2 feet from the curb, when operating adjacent to existing on-street parallel parking. 
</ul>

Enter the name of the street then pick from the list.

Use the street number of the building you will be in front of to decide. For example, if you are in front of 49 South Van Ness, you will be on the odd side of the street. 

Enter the name of the cross street then pick from the list. 

Tell us where you will be in relation to other buildings, like “in front of the Main Library” or “in front of a parking lot, near the Adult Assistance Program building”.

Tell us anything about where you will be selling that you didn’t explain above. 

Your vending location

Enter the name of the street and then pick from a list

Describe what you will walk by, and if you will take more than 5 streets in your route.

You can also email a map of your vending route to <a href="mailto:streetvendorpermit@sfdpw.org">streetvendorpermit@sfdpw.org</a>.

Your vending route

If you are selling prepackaged food or drink, you must apply for a health permit.

For example, “I will sell bottled water” or “I will sell dreamcatchers I make from yarn, wood dowels and shells”.

Selling

<h4>What days and times will you be selling? *</h4>
For each day you are open, choose the day and hours, like 09:00 AM to 5:00 PM.

row hours

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Vending hours

You can get a waiver for some or most of your permit fee. You do not need to pay all of your permit fee if you can show that you get any of the following:
<ul>
 <li>California State Medi-Cal </li>
 <li>Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) </li>
 <li>SFMTA Lifeline card </li>
 <li>Women Infant and Children (WIC) Benefits</li>
</ul>

You can take a picture of your card on  your phone and upload the photo. 

You can also get the first-year permit fee waived, and renewal fees reduced, if you make <a target="_blank" href="https://www.sfmta.com/fares/lifeline-pass">less than 200% of the federal poverty rate a year</a>.

Nonprofits
If you are a nonprofit, you can get a discount permit fee if your organization: 
<ul>
 <li>Gets less than $2.5 million in funding annually</li>
 <li>Is a Community Benefit District (CBD)</li>
 <li>Supports a cultural district</li>
 <li>Has a mission to support economic development or community vitalization</li>
</ul>

Fee waiver

Do not upload an ID like a drivers license. We need a photo of you because the permit is only for you, and our inspectors need to make sure you are the one selling. 

Photo

We use this information to understand and improve how the City is serving all San Franciscans. It will remain private. You do not have to answer these questions.