Chatham County, GA Food Trucks & Mobile Vendors: Sidewalk & Mobile Vending (2026)

The rule sits inside Chatham County's peddler and solicitor ordinance (Code Ch. 16, Art. IV), covering anyone selling goods or services outside a fixed store in the unincorporated county, including local and transient peddlers. Sec. 16-314(1) is explicit: setting up and operating a booth or stand on a street, sidewalk or other public area requires the written permission of the Director of Building Safety and Regulatory Services (BSRS) before the vendor opens for business. There is no separate food-truck article in the county code, so a stand-based food vendor working a public sidewalk falls under this general peddler rule rather than a food-specific ordinance.

Before seeking that written permission, the vendor also needs the underlying peddler license required by Sec. 16-303, and the license or a copy of it must be displayed where customers can see it under Sec. 16-314(8). Sec. 16-314(6) adds that any stand placed on private property still needs the property owner's prior express permission and must meet zoning and health code requirements. A County Police officer can also order a vendor to move under Sec. 16-314(4) if the officer determines pedestrian or vehicle congestion has become a public hazard.

None of this reaches vending from a motorized truck parked off the public right-of-way; it governs booths and stands set up in the street, sidewalk, or public area itself.