Kingsport, TN Food Trucks & Mobile Vendors: Sidewalk & Mobile Vending (2026)

Section 70-30 of the Kingsport Code turns the permit into a day-to-day operating standard for anyone vending on a sidewalk in the City of Kingsport, Tennessee. Under the section, no vendor shall leave any stand unattended, and no vendor shall store, park or leave any stand overnight on any street or sidewalk. A motor vehicle used in the business must sit in a lawful parking place in conformance with city and state parking regulations. A vendor who sells food or beverages for immediate consumption must have a litter receptacle available for patrons, and must pick up, remove and dispose of all trash or refuse from sales before leaving a location. Section 70-31 adds that the vendor keeps the stand and vending area litter free and that a pushcart vendor carries a trash container in or on the cart.

The blocking rule is the strictest line. Subsection (10) bars vending from a stand on the sidewalk so as to block the sidewalk or the entranceway to any building, and adds that no permit will be issued for such activity under any circumstances. No vending can block any driveway, crosswalk or bus stop. Subsection (12) requires the vendor to secure and display written permission from the property owner and all business owners in the building, if any, adjoining the area of the vending. Other subsections in the same section bar soliciting or conducting business with persons in motor vehicles, vending anything other than what the permit covers, vending without the insurance coverage specified, adding tables, crates or racks not described in the application, and leaning a stand against a building without the owner's permission.

The vendor permit is issued by the city manager or designee under section 70-25, and sidewalk vending outside fire district No. 1 is unlawful under section 70-24, subject to the exemptions in section 70-28.