Shelby County, TN Food Trucks & Mobile Vendors: Vending Zones (2026)
Key Facts
- Allowed zoning districts
- OG, CMU-1/2/3, CMP-1/2, EMP, WD, IH
- School buffer
- 300 feet during school hours
- Restaurant buffer
- 300 feet unless waived
- Special event buffer
- 1,000 feet, plus 2-hour window
- Residential/park operation
- Needs special use permit (§ 8-690)
- Enforcing agency
- Construction Code Enforcement (§ 8-691)
Summary
Shelby County limits mobile food trucks to specific zoning districts, plus set distances from schools, restaurants, and permitted special events. County Code § 8-681 spells out the allowed 'parking location' zones, and § 8-683(d) adds the 300-foot and 1,000-foot buffers that keep trucks away from competitors and scheduled events.
Parking location means the location where a mobile food preparation vehicle is parked when such vehicle is stopped for the purposes of preparing, selling, or dispensing food to consumers, which shall include, but not be limited to, county streets, alleys, and other public roadways within the office general (OG); commercial mixed use 1, 2 and 3 (CMU-1, CMU-2 and CMU-3); campus master plan -1 and -2 (CMP-1 and CMP-2); employment (EMP); warehouse and distribution (WD) and heavy industrial (IH) zoning districts; and public and private school sites within residential zoning districts with written authorization from the school as required by § 8-683(d)(1) of this article.
Full Breakdown
Under the 'parking location' definition in § 8-681, a mobile food preparation vehicle may only stop to sell food on county streets, alleys and other public roadways inside the office general (OG); commercial mixed use 1, 2 and 3 (CMU-1/2/3); campus master plan 1 and 2 (CMP-1/2); employment (EMP); warehouse and distribution (WD); and heavy industrial (IH) zoning districts, or at public and private school sites in residential districts with the school's written authorization. Even inside those districts, § 8-683(d) bars a truck from parking within 300 feet of a school or school playground while school is in session unless the school agrees in writing, and within 300 feet of any restaurant's main entrance during its posted hours unless every restaurant within that 300-foot radius signs a waiver; distances are measured in a straight line from the truck's nearest edge to the restaurant's nearest edge, and the 300-foot restaurant buffer follows the truck even onto private property next to a restaurant.
Section 8-689 layers on a 1,000-foot buffer around any permitted special event or farmers' market location, and bans operating within two hours before or after such an event without written permission from event officials. 6, unless the truck is working a park under an existing management agreement (§ 8-690).
Violations & Fines
There's no separate fine schedule for the vending-zone rules; a truck parked outside an allowed district, inside a school or restaurant buffer, or within 1,000 feet of a permitted event falls under the county's general penalty, § 1-4, up to $50.00 per day the violation continues. The Memphis and Shelby County Office of Construction Code Enforcement enforces the zoning district and special-event provisions of Article XVI (§ 8-691), and the health department can also suspend or deny the underlying vehicle permit.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where in Shelby County can a food truck legally park to sell?
How close can a food truck park to a restaurant in Shelby County?
Can a food truck set up next to a Shelby County farmers' market?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Shelby County
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