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Mobile Food Unit Permit Application

  1. Application Requirements

    General Standards

    1. All waste discharge shall be disposed of in a sewage system that the Environmental Health Division of the Virginia Department of Health has approved.  

    2. The mobile food unit operator shall provide trash receptacles and shall ensure that trash is properly removed from the site.  

    3. The operator shall comply with the provisions of Article IV ("Noise") of Chapter 218 of this Code and all other legal requirements.    

    4. All mobile food units shall be parked a minimum of 100 feet from any residence. 

    5. A real property owner or tenant desiring to allow at least one mobile food unit on a parcel shall pay a fee of $100 regardless of the number of mobile food units that will operate.  

    6. Whenever a real property owner or tenant desires to allow at least one mobile food unit on a parcel, the property owner or tenant shall apply for and obtain a permit from the Department of Planning and Community Development. The Director has total discretion to determine the number of mobile food units to be allowed on a parcel and whether to approve the permit; and there shall be no appeal from such a decision. 

    7. On an approved permit, the permit's duration shall not exceed 3 months. Once a permit expires, the real property owner, tenant, or other authorized users may apply for a new permit.  

    8. If a mobile food unit operator fails to obey a requirement in a permit, the Director is authorized to revoke the permit or deny any future application for a permit made by a real property owner, or tenant that includes the same mobile food unit operator. 

    9. No mobile food unit shall operate between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. of any day.  

    10. Each mobile food unit shall be allowed to have signs that are attached to the unit and one detached temporary freestanding sign. The freestanding sign shall not exceed 10 square feet and may be on the site only when the mobile food unit is open for business.  

    11. Each mobile food unit shall be on-site only when the unit is open for business. 

    Location of Mobile Food Units: 

    1. Mobile food units shall be allowed for all use types except residential use types. 

    2. Exception for homeowners. The owners of a home in a residential zoning district can have one or more mobile food units at his home for noncommercial uses. A homeowner is exempt from this section's requirements, except that he shall not violate any federal, state, or local law.  

    3. City Owned Property. The Director of the Department of Recreation and Parks is authorized to allow mobile food units on City-owned real property for specific events, and the Director shall impose those requirements on mobile food units that he deems reasonable and necessary.  

    For this application to be completed and submitted, the applicant must attach a site plan.

    The site plan shall show the following:

    (1) Show a setback line that is 100' from a residential property, if applicable.

    (2) Location of all proposed Mobile Food Units.

    (3) Location of trash receptacles.

  2. Application is not complete without a submitted site plan.

  3. Please provide the address or parcel ID of the proposed location to host mobile food units.
  4. If applicable, include the applicant's business or organization that will be hosting the Mobile Food Units.
  5. Please list a phone number or email address. 

  6. Mobile Food Units can be hosted up to three consecutive months.

  7. What will be the maximum number of Mobile Food Units on site?

  8. Example: 

    1 mobile food unit every Monday-Friday, 11 am to 3 pm 

    -or- 

    3 mobile food units every Friday, 6 pm to 10 pm  

  9. Regulations*

    Please check that you have read, understand, and agree to the following requirements, as stipulated by City Code.

  10. Certification*

    I, the applicant, certify that all of the information furnished in this application is correct and meets the intent of the Mobile Food Unit Code.

    Please allow up to 10 business days for a review of the application.  

    Any edits to the application after the permit has been issued will require a new permit application, review, and fee.  

  11. Leave This Blank:

  12. This field is not part of the form submission.