Food truck ordinance getting some updates
Operating food trucks in Norris is about to get less-expensive, at least from a permit standpoint.
Hours also would be limited, according to changes proposed to the city’s mobile food vending ordinance that was passed nearly a year ago.
During a special meeting Tuesday, Oct. 24, the council voted unanimously to approve on first reading an ordinance amending the city code on mobile food vendors to specify that the fee for a permit is $50 annually.
As the law now reads, food vendors are required to pay a monthly fee of $50 per mobile food unit.
Two other changes in the law are also proposed.
One would eliminate the fee for “a temporary mobile food vending permit” for a “City sponsored or co-sponsored event.”
The other change would prohibit mobile food vending from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m.
A council member suggested that 11 p.m. might be too late to allow food trucks to operate, but city staff noted that some events – including special ones at the Museum of Appalachia – can often run as late as 11 p.m.
The council approved the first mobile food vending ordinance on Nov. 14, 2022, and since that measure was passed, no operator has yet to apply for a permit, City Manager Adam Ledford said.
Council members thought that food trucks operating in the parking lot of Andersonville Crossing, invited by The Dam Bar, would be applying for the permits. But apparently the bar no longer hosts food trucks, as it has built its own kitchen and now serves food cooked in-house.
When The Dam Bar opened, food trucks were invited to operate there to help the bar satisfy a state law that requires places that sell liquor by the drink to serve food as well – beyond bar nuts and pretzels. Tennessee liquor laws technically don’t allow pure bars to operate.
All mobile food vendors operating in Norris must have business licenses as required by the state of Tennessee, along with commissary licenses, and must operate in accordance with state Health Department rules, including using only specially designed vehicles approved by the state.
The ordinance does not allow cooking to take place while the vehicle is in motion. And no sound-amplifying devices are allowed on the outside of the vehicle.
No detached signs are allowed, either, and each vendor is required to provide for the sanitary collection and disposal of all waste from the vehicle, including gray water and fryer oil.
The vendors setting up on private property also will be limited to the C-1 (Central Business District), C-2 (Tennessee Highway 61 Business District), and S-1 (Scenic Highway) zones as defined in the city’s zoning codes.
A public hearing on the food truck ordinance updates will be held at 5 p.m. Monday, Nov. 13, and final approval is expected on second reading at the regular council meeting following the hearing.
• Also during the special meeting, the council approved a new three-year contract for City Manager Adam Ledford, who had been with the city just over a year.
The contract includes a 3% pay increase.