REQUIREMENTS FOR SPECIFIC TYPES OF ESTABLISHMENTS AND MOBILE FOOD UNITS

Memphis Code of Ordinances tit. 9, ch. 9-52, art. 3

in effect

Memphis Code of Ordinances § 9-52-71 Application of article.

Sec. 9-52-71. - Application of article. The provisions of this article shall apply to the below specific food establishments and mobile food units including all sections under the article. (Ord. No. 5542, § 1, 12-17-2013)

Memphis Code of Ordinances § 9-52-78 Mobile food trucks and industrial caterers.

Sec. 9-52-78. - Mobile food trucks and industrial caterers. Mobile food trucks and industrial caterers shall meet all the applicable requirements of this chapter and shall also meet the following special requirements: 1. Food shall be dispensed only from mobile food trucks on commercial/industrial sites with the permission of the property occupant or owner. 2. Prepackaged potentially hazardous food shall be transported stored and served only in containers and equipment, which is designed and thermostatically controlled to keep the food above 135 degrees Fahrenheit or 41 degrees Fahrenheit or below. 3. An industrial caterer shall dispense only food which has been processed at a food processing plant. 4. industrial catering trucks shall be based at or operated from premises in an area other than residential where storage facilities are available for food processors and where cleaning facilities are available. (Ord. No. 5542, § 1, 12-17-2013)

Memphis Code of Ordinances § 9-52-81 Produce truck.

Sec. 9-52-81. - Produce truck. A produce truck shall meet all of the applicable requirements of this chapter and shall also meet the following special requirements: A. No person shall engage in the business as a produce truck without a permit. B. If the pre-operational inspection is approved, a permit application will be issued to the operator upon payment of the permit fee. C. Produce truck permits shall be issued for fruits, vegetables, melons, berries, chestnuts and packaged nuts only. D. A produce truck permit may be suspended or revoked for violating the applicable provisions of this article as required in section 9-52-7. E. A produce truck vehicle shall be identified on both sides by the name and address of the person holding the permit and by the health department permit number. F. A produce truck shall be kept in motion except when making sales and its movement shall be timed and executed so as to cause a minimum interference with traffic. G. When not in use, a produce truck vehicle which contains fruits, vegetables, melons, chestnuts, packaged nuts and berries shall be stored in such a place and condition so as to prevent contamination of the food from dust, flies, insects, rodents and animals. H. Produce vehicles must carry waste containers and this waste must be properly disposed of as required in TDA Rules § 0080-4-9. I. Fruits and vegetables shall be sold whole and not cut or sliced while in the produce truck operator's possession. In addition, all fruits and vegetables must be sold from the truck or trailer not from tables or stands. J. Operation of produce trucks is prohibited between sundown and sunrise. K. Produce trucks shall carry the required permit at all times while in operations as required by this section. (Ord. No. 5542, § 1, 12-17-2013)

Memphis Code of Ordinances § 9-52-82 Same—Operating on public property.

Sec. 9-52-82. - Same—Operating on public property. This section shall not apply wherever produce trucks are otherwise regulated in specific chapters or sections of this code. (Ord. No. 5542, § 1, 12-17-2013)

Memphis Code of Ordinances § 9-52-83 Pedestrian vendors and push carts.

Sec. 9-52-83. - Pedestrian vendors and push carts. Pedestrian vendors and push cart vendors shall meet all the applicable requirements of this article and shall also meet the following special requirements. The health officer shall adopt written rules and regulations for pedestrian vendors and push cart vendors for the purpose of interpretation of this article. A. No person shall engage in the business as a pedestrian vendor or push cart vendor without a permit. B. If the pre-operational inspection is approved, a permit application will be issued to the vendor upon payment of the required permit fee. C. The permitted pedestrian vendor or push cart vendor shall secure the written permission of an agent, manager, superintendent, or director in charge of a mall, pedestrian mall, shopping center, commercial business, historical district or city park. Such agent, manager, superintendent or director shall be directly responsible for the operation or activities of such vendors. D. All food to be served and sold by a pedestrian vendor or push cart vendor shall be processed under proper and sanitary facilities as required by the health officer and state department of health and/or state department of agriculture rules and regulations. E. All push carts shall have a commissary licensed by the state department of health and/or the state department of agriculture where the food is prepared and/or stored when the cart is not in use, and cleaning facilities are available. F. Push carts shall have facilities where perishable food can be kept below 41 degrees Fahrenheit and/or above 135 degrees Fahrenheit in a controlled container. G. Push carts shall be especially designed for food distribution and shall be made from material that can be kept clean and well maintained. H. All push cart vendors must have a copy of their permit and most recent inspection available upon request. I. Pedestrian vendors and push cart vendors shall wash their hands as required by the state department of health and state department of agriculture rules and regulations. J. Vendors shall wear clean outer garments at all times. K. Toilet facilities shall be provided by the sponsoring organization and made available to the public and shall meet the requirements of the county plumbing code. L. All pedestrian vendor carts and pushcarts shall be clearly identified with the name of the business and permit number posted and unobstructed on the exterior of the unit in letters at least three inches in height. (Ord. No. 5542, § 1, 12-17-2013)

Memphis Code of Ordinances § 9-52-84 Farmer's market.

Sec. 9-52-84. - Farmer's market. A farmer's market shall meet all of the applicable requirements of this chapter and shall also meet the following special requirements: A. The agent, manager, or director of the sponsoring organization of a farmer's market shall secure a farmer's market permit from the health department and shall pay the appropriate fee as required in section 9-52-3. This permit shall cover all sellers operating within the market, and the agent, manager or director thereof shall be directly responsible for the operation of each seller. B. The person requesting the permit must make a written application to the health department. No regular inspections will be conducted at farmer's markets, however all complaints will be investigated. Each applicant will be provided basic food safety training and materials describing the permitting requirements for selling different types of food at the farmer's market. C. A farmer's market permit shall be issued for fruits, vegetables, melons, berries or nuts only. All other types of food sold at farmer's markets shall require a separate permit. D. A farmer's market permit may be suspended or revoked for violating the applicable provisions of this chapter, as required in section 9-52-7. E. Fruits, including cantaloupe and watermelon, shall be sold whole and shall not be cut or sliced while on the premises of the market. F. Toilet facilities shall be provided by the sponsoring organization and made available to the public, and shall meet the requirements of the county plumbing code. G. A separate permit must be obtained for each farmer's market site. This permit shall not be transferable from site to site. H. The farmer's market must be completely contained on a paved surface. (Ord. No. 5542, § 1, 12-17-2013)

Memphis Code of Ordinances § 9-52-85 Reserved.

Memphis Code of Ordinances § 9-52-86 Mobile food preparation vehicles.

Sec. 9-52-86. - Mobile food preparation vehicles. Mobile food preparation vehicles shall meet all applicable requirements of this article in addition to the requirements outlined as follows: A. No person shall engage in the business of a mobile food preparation vehicle within the municipal limits without first having obtained a permit required by section 9-52-3 of the city Code and the State of Tennessee. B. A mobile food preparation vehicle license, as authorized by the state and local ordinances, will not be issued to a person unless the following conditions are met: 1. The vehicle must be specially designed as defined as a mobile food preparation vehicle and be approved by the health officer in addition to meeting the standards as set forth in section 16-208 of the city Code. 2. No person shall engage in the business of a mobile food preparation vehicle without first having obtained a commissary license or having a written commissary agreement, if required by the health officer. 3. Each mobile food preparation vehicle must display its business name and state and local permit numbers, with letters and numbers at least three inches in height, in a prominent and visible location on the vehicle. 4. The driver of the truck must have a current Tennessee driver's license, current auto insurance (including liability insurance) and current vehicle registration as required by state law and enforced by law enforcement authorities. 5. The vehicle can only operate in locations where the operation of motorized vehicles is permitted under local zoning ordinances and enforced by local code enforcement authorities 6. All current permits must be posted in a conspicuous manner, in compliance with T.C.A., 68-14-305. C. The health officer shall adopt written rules and regulations for mobile food preparation vehicles for the purpose of interpretation of this article. (Ord. No. 5542, § 1, 12-17-2013)

Memphis Code of Ordinances § 9-52-87 Operational requirements.

Sec. 9-52-87. - Operational requirements. A. When legally parked on a city street, alley and other public thoroughfares in an allowed zoning district, mobile food preparation vehicles shall park for no less than 30 minutes and shall not exceed a total of six hours in any one block, with food service available for no more than four hours of that time. The mobile food vendor must then provide a minimum break from that location of one hour. B. When parked on private property with the permission of the property owner, a mobile food preparation vehicle may operate at the times and for the duration provided in its permission by the property owner. C. No mobile food preparation vehicle shall be equipped with any external electronic sound-amplifying device. D. No operator of such vehicle shall park or stand such vehicle within 300 feet of a school or school playground in a residential district while school is in session, unless an agreement is established with such school. E. When legally parked on a city street, alley and other public thoroughfare in an allowed zoning district, no such vehicle shall park or stand within 300 feet of any principal customer entrance to a restaurant outside of the central business improvement district (CBID) during its posted hours of operation, unless a signed waiver, with a stated duration, has been obtained from all restaurants which are within a 300 foot radius of that parking location. For any restaurant within the CBID, this distance shall be 50 feet, unless a similar waiver is obtained from all restaurants within that lesser distance. Restaurant, for purposes of this section, means any public place at a fixed location kept, used, maintained, advertised and held out to the public as a place where food and drink are prepared and served to the public for consumption on or off the premises pursuant to the required licenses. Such establishments include, but are not limited to, restaurants, bars, lounges, coffee shops, cafeterias, dining rooms, eating houses, short order cafes, luncheonettes, grills, tearooms and sandwich shops. All measured distances and distance requirements addressed in this regulation shall be distances measured in a straight line from the nearest edge of the mobile vehicle or trailer to the nearest edge of the object from which the mobile vehicle or trailer is to be distant. When legally parked on private property, the distance requirements established above shall still be applicable if a restaurant is present on adjacent or abutting property, unless a signed waiver, with a stated duration, has been obtained from all restaurants on adjacent or abutting property which are within a 300 foot radius of that parking location on private property. For any restaurant within the CBID, this distance restriction shall be 50 feet, unless a similar waiver is obtained from all restaurants within that distance located on adjacent or abutting property. F. When legally parked on a city street, alley and other public thoroughfares in an allowed zoning district, no sale shall be made from such vehicle except from the curb side. G. Cooking must not be conducted while the vehicle is in motion. H. Mobile food preparation vehicle shall be parked only at its commissary or any other location approved by the health department that does not violate an applicable city ordinance. I. No detached signs are permitted. All signs used must be permanently affixed to, or painted on, the mobile food preparation vehicle and shall extend no more than six inches from the vehicle. No sign shall flash, cause interference with radio, telephone, television or other communication transmissions; produce or reflect motion pictures; emit visible smoke, vapor, particles, or odor; be animated or produce any rotation, motion or movement. A sign on which the message is changed electronically not more than one time per eight seconds shall not be considered to be an animated sign or a sign with movement, but is classified as a changeable copy sign. Changeable copy signs shall be permitted, but the total area of such signs on the vehicle, when parked and the vehicle is set up to operate, must not exceed 30 square feet. Any message on a changeable copy sign shall have an instantaneous change of message with no fading, fly-in, dissolve or other feature used. The change of message rate on digital signs shall be limited to no more than once every eight seconds. No sign shall utilize any exposed incandescent lamp with a wattage of more than 40 watts, any revolving beacon light; or a luminance in excess of 350-foot lamberts measured at the sign face. J. Vendor must provide for the sanitary collection of all refuse, litter and garbage generated by the patrons using that service and remove all such waste materials from the location before the vehicle departs. This includes physically inspecting the general area for such items prior to the vehicle's departure. (Ord. No. 5542, § 1, 12-17-2013)

Memphis Code of Ordinances § 9-52-88 Food requirements.

Sec. 9-52-88. - Food requirements. A. All food shall be protected from contamination and the elements while being stored, prepared, displayed or sold at a mobile food preparation vehicle and during transportation to or between such establishments or vending machine locations, and so shall all food equipment, containers, utensils, food-contact surfaces and devices and vehicles, in accordance with the provisions of this chapter and the rules and regulations of the health department. B. All foods to be used, prepared, cooked, displayed, sold, served, offered for sale or stored in a food establishment, or during transportation to or between locations shall be from sources approved by the health authorities of the point of origin and must be clean, wholesome, free from spoilage, adulteration, contamination or misbranding and safe for human consumption. The standards for judging wholesomeness for human food shall be those promulgated and amended from time to time by the United States Food and Drug Administration, United States Department of Agriculture, the state department of health and the state department of agriculture and published in the United States Code of Federal Regulations and the Tennessee Code Annotated or the Tennessee Rules and Regulations. Such laws will be adopted by reference when approved and deemed effective as of the date designated by the above government agencies or the appropriate legislative body approving such changes. C. The only milk or milk products which may be used as food ingredients shall be pasteurized Grade A milk or milk products from sources approved by the health department. All pasteurized milk and fluid milk products shall be sold in the individual original containers in which they were received from distributor and shall be stored at a temperature of 41 degrees Fahrenheit or less until sold. D. Raw shellfish, including oysters, clams and mussels, with the exception of properly prepared fish for sushi, shall not be sold or distributed, unless such item has received specific authorization from the state department of agriculture and the county health department. E. All meats, meat food products, poultry and poultry products used in cooking, offered for sale, sold or prepared shall be from sources inspected and approved by the United States Department of Agriculture, the state department of agriculture or the state or local department of health and shall be plainly marked, tagged or stamped to indicate the source, and the inspection and approval. F. All hermetically sealed foods shall have been processed in approved food- processing establishments. The use, preparation, display, sale or storage of home-canned foods is prohibited and no other foods which have been processed in a private home or other than in an approved food-processing establishment shall be stored, used, kept for sale or served in a food establishment or automatic food-vending machine. G. The use of newspaper or any unclean paper for the purpose of wrapping food is forbidden. H. The health officer may augment such requirements when needed to assure the service of safe food and may prohibit the sale of certain potentially hazardous food. (Ord. No. 5542, § 1, 12-17-2013)

Memphis Code of Ordinances § 9-52-89 Food handler requirements.

Sec. 9-52-89. - Food handler requirements. All food handlers shall meet the standards as set forth in T.C.A.S 53-8-108, state department of health rules and regulations, and city Code Title 9, Chapter V, Article II, section 9-52-26. (Ord. No. 5542, § 1, 12-17-2013)

Memphis Code of Ordinances § 9-52-90 Equipment standards.

Sec. 9-52-90. - Equipment standards. All mobile food preparation vehicles shall meet the standards as set forth in state department of health rules and regulations, and city Code Title 9, Chapter V, Article II, section 9-52-26. (Ord. No. 5542, § 1, 12-17-2013)

Memphis Code of Ordinances § 9-52-91 Maintenance of premises.

Sec. 9-52-91. - Maintenance of premises. All mobile food preparation vehicles shall meet the standards as set forth in T.C.A. § 53-8-102, T.C.A. § 53-8-103, state department of health rules and regulations, and city Code, Title 9, Article V, Division II. (Ord. No. 5542, § 1, 12-17-2013)

Memphis Code of Ordinances § 9-52-92 Vehicle sanitation requirements.

Sec. 9-52-92. - Vehicle sanitation requirements. A. Each vehicle shall be constructed so that the portions of the vehicle containing food shall be covered so that no dust or dirt will settle on the food; and such portions of the vehicles which are designed to contain food shall be at least 18 inches above the surface of the public way while the vehicle is being used for the conveyance of food. B. The food storage areas of each vehicle shall be kept free from rats, mice, flies and other insects and vermin. No living animals, birds, fowl, reptiles or amphibians shall be permitted in any area where food is stored. C. Hazardous non-food items such as detergents, insecticides, rodenticides, plants, paint and paint products that are poisonous or toxic in nature shall not be stored in the food area of the vehicle. D. The vehicle shall be enclosed with tops and sides. E. The vehicle shall not be used for any purpose other than for the purpose described in this chapter. (Ord. No. 5542, § 1, 12-17-2013)

Memphis Code of Ordinances § 9-52-93 Zoning districts.

Sec. 9-52-93. - Zoning districts. A. Mobile food preparation vehicles are allowed to operate on sites and city streets, alleys and other public thoroughfares within the Office General (OG); Commercial Mixed Use 1, 2 and 3 (CMU-1, CMU-2 and CMU-3); Central Business (CBD); Campus Master Plan -1 and -2 (CMP-1 and CMP-2); Employment (EMP); Warehouse and Distribution (WD) and Heavy Industrial (IH) zoning districts; the South Central Business Improvement Special Purpose District (SCBiD) and the Mixed Use (MU), Neighborhood Center Overlay (NC), Uptown Hospital (UH) and Uptown Light Industrial (ULI) districts of the Uptown Special Purpose District. In addition, mobile food preparation vehicles are allowed to operate on public and private school sites within residential zoning districts with written authorization from the school. B. Mobile food preparation vehicles must operate at least 1,000 feet from permitted special events locations and permitted farmer's market locations and the mobile food preparation vehicle shall not operate within two hours before or after a scheduled, permitted event or farmer's market, unless the vendor has received specific authority to operate from the event or farmer's market officials. Mobile food preparation vehicles may not operate within 300 feet of FedEx Forum or Autozone Park when events are being conducted or within two hours before or after such event. C. Approval to operate a mobile food preparation vehicle within all residential and residential work districts, or parks, except as provided below, shall require approval of a special use permit from the land use control board and the legislative body, subject to the provisions of Chapter 9.6 of the Memphis and Shelby County Unified Development Code. 1. Mobile food vendors shall be authorized to operate in any park under a management agreement with the city or county government under terms and conditions established by those entities authorized by the city or county for such park management activities as to the times and locations within the park and additional fees charged for such vendors. 2. Written authorization for activities within such parks by the management group shall be provided by the food vendor upon request by local or state authorities. D. Regulation of this section shall be performed by law enforcement and Shelby County Code Enforcement. (Ord. No. 5542, § 1, 12-17-2013)

Memphis Code of Ordinances § 9-52-94 Mobile food market.

Sec. 9-52-94. - Mobile food market. A mobile food market shall meet all the applicable requirements of this chapter and shall also meet the following special requirements: Pre-operational requirements: Floor plans, equipment layouts, and equipment specifications for both the mobile food market and commissary or food storage facility must be submitted to the health department at least 15 days prior to construction. A. All floors, walls, and ceilings must be smooth and washable. B. All equipment must be movable or sealed to the floor, in compliance with TDH Rules 1200-23-1 et seq. C. Adequate mechanical refrigeration and freezing equipment must be provided to maintain potentially hazardous food at the proper temperature. D. All coolers and freezers must have visible, accurate, easily readable thermometers. E. All openings to the outside must be screened or self-closing. F. Solid waste/trash shall be contained in durable, easily cleanable, insect-proof containers. G. All potentially hazardous food (meat, poultry, dairy products, etc.) must be stored in an approved commissary. A separate food storage permit is required for that facility. If the commissary is owned by another operator, a mobile unit/commissary agreement must be submitted to the county health department. H. All mobile units shall be clearly identified with the name of business and permit number posted and unobstructed on the exterior of the unit in letters at least three inches in height. (Ord. No. 5542, § 1, 12-17-2013)

Source: City of Memphis, Code of Ordinances and Charter and Related Laws (Municode Library, library.municode.com)URL: https://library.municode.com/tn/memphis/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=TIT9HESA_CH9-52FOES_ART3RESPTYESMOFOUNFetched: 10/28/2026