Sidewalk Vendor / Mobile Vendor ($1,000) Bond - City of Ferndale, MI in Michigan

Brief Summary

The $1,000 bond is the smallest piece of a Ferndale vending license, and the piece most likely to catch you off guard, because the city's vending ordinance and its fee schedule no longer agree on it. Confirm with the City Clerk whether it will be collected. If it is, a surety bond costs you a modest annual premium instead of $1,000 in cash sitting with the city.

Ferndale's Code of Ordinances requires a $1,000 bond with surety, running to the City of Ferndale and filed with the City Clerk, before a sidewalk vending license (Sec. 7-66) or a mobile vending unit license (Sec. 7-78) is issued. The amount is flat with no tiers. The city's fee schedule dropped the $200 cash performance bond it charged approved vendor applicants starting in FYE 2025, and the ordinance was never amended to match, so ask the Clerk's Office which rule it is enforcing before you buy.

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How to Apply for a Sidewalk Vendor / Mobile Vendor ($1,000) Bond:

• Call the Ferndale City Clerk's Office and confirm whether the $1,000 bond under Sec. 7-66 or Sec. 7-78 is being collected, since the fee schedule eliminated the vendor cash bond in FYE 2025.
• Decide which license you need: sidewalk vending for sidewalks, pushcarts and kiosks, or mobile vending for units on a public street, highway or parking space.
• Obtain commercial general liability insurance of at least $1,000,000 naming the City of Ferndale as additional insured.
• Complete the bond application with the principal's legal name exactly as it will appear on the license application.
• Pay the premium and receive the executed $1,000 bond naming the City of Ferndale as obligee.
• File the bond, the insurance certificate and the application with the City Clerk and pay the $100 application fee.
• Reapply each year, because the license expires at the end of the calendar year it was issued.

Detailed Information About the Michigan Sidewalk Vendor / Mobile Vendor ($1,000) Bond:

Who needs the bond

Ferndale regulates vending in Chapter 7, Article IV of its Code of Ordinances, adopted through Ordinances 1119 and 1120 in May 2012. There are two licenses. Sidewalk vending, in Division 1, covers anyone selling goods, merchandise or food on a public sidewalk, either moving or from a fixed spot, including pushcarts and kiosks. Mobile vending, in Division 2, covers sales from a mobile vending unit located on a public street, highway or public parking space, which is where food trucks fall.

Both licenses carry the same flat $1,000 bond. It is filed with the City Clerk, runs to the City of Ferndale, and is signed by the applicant as principal with a surety behind it. The bond is conditioned on following the vending ordinance and the state rules that apply to the food or merchandise being sold.

The fee schedule and the ordinance disagree

Ferndale's FYE 2024 fee schedule listed a $200 Cash Performance Bond for approved vendor applicants. The FYE 2025 schedule marked that line Eliminated, and the FYE 2026 and FYE 2027 schedules show no vendor bond at all, only a $100 application fee for food truck, retail sales or push-cart vendors on public property. Sections 7-66 and 7-78 were not amended and still call for the $1,000 bond with surety. Call the Clerk's Office before you apply and ask which requirement it is applying to your license.

Who is exempt

For sidewalk vending, the ordinance exempts people under 16 unless they sell from a pushcart or vending unit, school-sponsored sales, anyone exempt under state or federal law, and sellers at a fair, festival or special event operating under an approved Chapter 16 special event license. For mobile vending, the only exemptions are state or federal law and approved special events. The special event exemption covers the event only. It does not license you to vend the rest of the year.

Insurance is the larger requirement

Both divisions also require commercial general liability insurance of at least $1,000,000 naming the city as additional insured, plus an indemnity agreement. The insurance does not replace the bond, and the bond does not replace the insurance.

License term and cost

Every vending license expires at the end of the calendar year in which it was issued, whatever month you applied. A license bought in November runs about six weeks. Fees are set by city council resolution rather than written into the code. The FYE 2026 and FYE 2027 schedules both show a $100 application fee. The bond premium is set by the surety based on the $1,000 amount and the applicant's credit and history. The city does not set it.

Eligibility and Requirements for a Michigan Sidewalk Vendor / Mobile Vendor ($1,000) Bond:

• Bond amount of exactly $1,000 for either license type, with no tiers.
• City of Ferndale as obligee, filed with the City Clerk, in a form approved by the city attorney.
• Bond conditioned on compliance with Ferndale's vending ordinance and applicable state food and merchandise rules.
• Commercial general liability insurance of not less than $1,000,000 with the city as additional insured, plus an indemnity agreement.
• License expires at the end of the calendar year of issue.

Michigan Sidewalk Vendor / Mobile Vendor ($1,000) Bond FAQs:

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