Franklin, TN Food Trucks & Mobile Vendors: Sidewalk & Mobile Vending (2026)
Key Facts
- Permit
- Mobile food vending permit required
- Vehicle right-of-way
- Off-limits to pushcarts
- Allowed zones
- Commercial, mixed-use, civic districts
- City parks
- Max 2 carts per park, reserved
- Issuer
- City zoning administrator
Summary
Pushcart food vendors in Franklin need a mobile food vending permit and cannot operate in the street right-of-way where licensed motor vehicles travel.
Pushcart means any wheeled vehicle or device which may be moved without the assistance of a motor and which is not required to be licensed and registered by the Tennessee Department of Transportation, and from which food is prepared, cooked, assembled or stored, with the intent to sell such food to the public. A mobile food vending permit is required, and pushcarts shall not operate within the street right-of-way where licensed motor vehicles operate.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 30 Update 1).
Full Breakdown
Title 9, chapter 11 defines a "pushcart" as a non-motorized, unlicensed wheeled vending unit used to prepare, cook, assemble, or store food for sale (§ 9-1102(12)). Every pushcart needs a mobile food vending permit issued by the zoning administrator, and the code bars pushcarts from operating within the street right-of-way where licensed motor vehicles operate (§ 9-1102(12), § 9-1104(1)). Like other mobile food vehicles, pushcarts may only work office, commercial, industrial, mixed-use, and civic/institutional zoning districts with the property owner's written permission (§ 9-1103(1)(c)), and in city parks only with a reserved space, capped at two carts per park (§ 9-1106(3)).
Violations & Fines
Operating a pushcart without a mobile food vending permit, or running one in the vehicle right-of-way, is a violation the zoning administrator can address with a notice of violation or permit suspension.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a permit to run a food cart in Franklin?
Can a pushcart vend in the street itself?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Franklin
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