Tempe, AZ Food Trucks & Mobile Vendors: Sidewalk & Mobile Vending (2026)

Tempe City Code Chapter 24, Article II governs mobile merchants and kiosk vendors, and Sec. 24-19 sets the baseline rule for any vending on a public sidewalk, right-of-way or city-owned property: it is unlawful unless the vendor is authorized under the article. The Code closes an obvious loophole in Sec. 24-19(b), providing that offering items 'on a donation basis' is not a defense if there is credible evidence the donation carries a minimum purchase price. Authorization comes through the permit tracks built out later in the same chapter: a mobile merchant permit (Div.

2, Sec. ) for vending from a vehicle, or a kiosk vending permit (Div. 3, Sec. 24-36) for a fixed or semi-permanent cart in a City-designated vending area. Under Sec. 24-20, the Financial Services Director or a designee administers permits, can revoke one at any time because it confers no property right, and can amend a vendor's location, hours or products in writing; the City can also change vending hours on thirty days' notice. Applications require an application fee, permit fee, identification card fee and fingerprinting fee set out in Appendix A, and permits expire every December 31 regardless of issue date, with a late fee for renewals filed after expiration and automatic cancellation, forcing a fresh application, if a permit lapses more than thirty days.

A denied or revoked applicant can request a written administrative review hearing within ten days under Sec. 24-21. Sidewalk vendors selling food must also clear County Health Department clearance and a Tempe Police Department fingerprint-based background check tied to the identification card requirement carried over from the mobile merchant application process.