King County won’t ticket unlicensed food carts due to lack of permanent address

SEATTLE — Unlicensed hot dog, taco and fruit stand vendors are multiplying outside western Washington's biggest events, from concerts to Seahawks games, and licensed vendors are frustrated as a legal loophole is allowing it to happen without penalty.

In King County, despite a decades-old ordinance (6.01.140) that authorizes $250 fines for selling food without a permit, health officials admit they haven’t issued a single citation.

"We don’t typically have a business owner name associated with the vendors and, by nature of the mobile set-up, lack the property address required for the civil penalty process," said Kate Cole, spokesperson for King County and Seattle Public Health Office. "It’s really intended for fixed, brick-and-mortar establishments."

Rule-abiding eatery owners told KING