The City of Maricopa is about to become the equipment counter for a new kind of small-business test at Copper Sky.
Beginning Monday, Nov. 2, permitted vendors can rent one of three setups from the City: a wearable hawker tray, a wheeled vending cart or a Copper Sky kiosk. The program is a pilot, meaning Maricopa is testing demand, cost and the case for expanding it—not promising a permanent market or guaranteed customer traffic.
It is also different from the vendor spaces Maricopa listed at Copper Sky in September. That earlier program was about where an approved business or nonprofit could set up. The Nov. 2 pilot is about renting the physical equipment a vendor can use.
The least expensive option is designed to move
The hawker carrying tray costs $5 per hour or $20 for five hours. The City says it can be used outdoors throughout Copper Sky Regional Park.
That makes it the low-cost experiment in the lineup. A seller could carry a compact selection rather than bringing a full cart. The announcement does not identify product-size limits, food-handling requirements or what inventory may be carried, so a vendor should not assume every product fits the tray or every sales activity qualifies.
The mobile cart and kiosk share the same rate schedule:
$25 per hour;
$100 for five hours;
$150 for an all-day rental; and
a $100 refundable deposit.
Those units can operate around the park. The City also says a cart or kiosk may be used as a stationary setup inside the Fieldhouse at Copper Sky or the Copper Sky Multigenerational Center.
Rental is not a permit
The most important line in the City announcement is easy to miss: participating vendors must obtain the required City permits and display them while operating.
In practical terms, paying for a tray, cart or kiosk does not by itself authorize a sale. A food business may have different licensing and inspection duties from a maker selling nonfood goods. Product, location and business structure can change what approvals apply.
Vendors should start with the City’s instructions for the active reservation and permit process, then confirm any separate state or county requirements that fit their operation. The public release does not provide a universal permit checklist, and OurMaricopa is not treating the rental fee as an all-in operating license.
How reservations are supposed to work
The City says reservations will be managed through ActiveNet. Equipment pickup and return will take place at the Copper Sky Multigenerational Center front desk during facility hours.
As of the Oct. 28 morning check, the City release said more information about reservations would be available as launch approached. That leaves several practical questions for the live listing: which dates and units are available, how the all-day window is defined, the cancellation policy, how deposits are returned and whether indoor locations require a separate booking.
Those are reasons to read the final ActiveNet listing before building a sales plan around a date.
One indoor-vending boundary remains
Maricopa says the pilot will comply with Arizona’s Business Enterprise Program, preserving exclusive indoor vending-machine operations for licensed blind and deaf vendors. The new carts and kiosks therefore should not be read as an announcement that the City is replacing or opening competition for protected indoor vending-machine locations.
The useful opportunity is narrower and more concrete: a permitted vendor can test a compact sales setup without first buying the City’s style of tray, cart or kiosk.
For customers, the pilot could eventually add more choices around practices, games and community gatherings. For sellers, the smarter first move is to compare the equipment with the OurMaricopa food-truck guide, the local business directory and the City’s live reservation terms—then calculate whether the rental, deposit, permits, staffing and inventory make sense together.
Sources
City of Maricopa — “New Vendor Opportunities Coming to Copper Sky Regional Park.” https://www.maricopa-az.gov/Maricopa-eNews/Copper-Sky-Mobile-Vending-Pilot-Program. Published Oct. 26, 2026; accessed Oct. 28, 2026 at 7:01 a.m. Arizona time. Source for launch date, equipment, rates, deposit, locations, ActiveNet process, permits and Business Enterprise Program statement.
Arizona Department of Economic Security — Business Enterprise Program. https://des.az.gov/services/older-adults/blind-deaf-and-disabled/business-enterprise-program. No publication date shown; accessed Oct. 28, 2026. Context for the state program referenced by the City; the City announcement controls for this pilot’s stated compliance.