Mt. Juliet, Tenn. - The City of Mt. Juliet permitting process for Mobile Vendors has not changed, nor are there any proposals to change the permitting process. Mobile Vendors are permitted at Temporary Events, and Temporary Events are permitted up to six times per year.
The rumor that Mt. Juliet no longer wants food trucks or is banning food trucks is false. After the March 3rd Tornado struck, food trucks were allowed to serve the impacted areas. When COVID-19 struck, causing interruptions to the food chain, many restaurants closed or went to curbside/pick-up only. Temporary permits were issued as an exception to the City’s regulations, during the State of Emergency declaration, as part of the Governor Lee’s "Safer-at-Home" mandate. Since then, the "Safer-at-Home" restriction on restaurants has ended, and many local restaurants are now open for in-person dining or curbside pick up. Therefore, the City recently communicated to all known Mobile Vendors that the normal permitting process and regulations must be followed, which was also communicated to the Mobile Vendors when specific regulations were waived during the tornado and COVID-19 response.
Why was the permitting process put in place years ago? Along with attempting to protect our brick and mortar businesses, the majority of the food trucks are not businesses based out of the city. The taxes they collect go back to the location the business is based from. Food trucks take business from local businesses that are currently struggling to reopen and send tax dollars that could support our local schools, police, roads, and many other things to neighboring cities.
To summarize, no requirements have changed. Food trucks still operate under the exact same regulations and permitting process as before March 3, which can be found in Article 3 of the City’s Land Development Code, https://library.municode.com/tn/mt._juliet/codes/land_development_code?nodeId=PTBZORE_ARTIIIUSRE_S3-106TEEVUSPOBU
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