A. Application and approval to operate.
1. The mobile food vendor shall provide the City with a copy of written consent from the property owner or their designee on a form prescribed by the City of Marion granting permission to establish a mobile vending unit on the subject property. It shall be unlawful for any mobile food vendor to establish upon private property without consent by the property owner or their designee.
2. A mobile food vendor permit shall not be required when vending activities are secondary or accessory to an approved temporary event.
3. The vending unit shall receive all applicable state health and food safety permits or exemption in writing from the state health inspector prior to city approval.
B. Operation requirements.
1. The mobile food vendor shall be in attendance at the mobile food vendor unit at all times during operation.
2. All mobile food vendor equipment and merchandise shall be removed from the premises or stored from public view during non-operating hours.
3. The mobile food vendor shall remove all trash generated from mobile food operation at the end of each business day.
4. The mobile vending unit shall operate only at times concurrent with the operating hours of the existing business on which the vending unit is located.
5. The vending unit operator shall comply with all federal, state and local laws when operating the unit.
6. All signage associated with the mobile food operation shall be securely attached flush to the vending unit and shall not be attached to the ground.
7. All mobile food vending units shall be self-contained and not require the use of ancillary power from any secondary source in order to operate, and all generators shall come equipped with a sound dampening enclosure.
C. Location requirements.
1. The vending unit shall not obstruct at any time any trash container, fire hydrant, fire lane, ingress or egress to the property, or building entrance.
2. Extension cords, drop cords, wires, and/or other materials shall not obstruct pedestrian or vehicular movement.
3. The mobile food vending unit shall be located on property of an existing business having an active business license, and a minimum of one restroom open to the public.
4. Mobile food unit shall not take up more than one (1) designated parking space, or 10 foot by 10 foot area. Except that one portable tent may be erected in addition to the mobile food unit so long as the tent is flame retardant, adequately anchored and secured to prevent collapse, and is located in a manner that does not take up additional parking and meets all other requirements in this section.
5. No more than one (1) mobile food vendor shall be located on a site at any one time.
D. Additional requirements on public property. Where a mobile vending unit is placed on city-owned property or within a public right-of-way the following requirements shall apply:
1. Application requirements.
a. The mobile food vendor shall be required to sign and execute a hold harmless release and agreement for sidewalk and right-of-way obstruction.
b. The mobile food vendor shall be required to maintain active liability insurance and provide documentation of lender's receipt of signed and notarized release and agreement form at the time of application submission.
2. General requirements.
a. The mobile food vendor shall be responsible for removing equipment and merchandise when the mobile vending unit is not in operation.
b. The mobile food vendor shall be responsible for removing all trash at the close of each business day and shall not place trash associated with the vending operation in public trash receptacles.
c. Generators, noise generating devices, or any other attention getting device that may, by virtue of its design, create a distraction to motorists, pedestrians, or adjacent properties shall be prohibited.
d. The City of Marion shall not provide power to a mobile food unit as part of the approved mobile food vendor permit application unless authorized by the Marion City Council.
3. Use of a public parking space. A mobile food vendor operating in a self-contained motorized vehicle or mobile trailer is permitted to locate in a designated parking space in one of the City- owned public parking lots or approved loading zone where use of such space is specifically posted, provided the following conditions are met.
a. The designated public parking space shall not be set up or used for mobile food vending before 5:30 p.m. any day of the week, with operations ending no later than 10:00 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and 12:00 a.m. Friday and Saturday.
b. Designated parking spaces shall be used on a first come first serve basis, and the mobile food vendor shall not occupy more than one designated space at any given time.
c. When located in an on-street parking space, the mobile vending unit shall be oriented toward the sidewalk to maintain the public's safety and prevent conflicts between pedestrians and motorists.
d. No other parking space beyond the designated mobile food vendor parking space shall be used by the vendor during operation. Vehicles used to tow mobile food vending units shall be moved to a secondary location prior to operation in order to maintain adequate public parking.
e. The following locations include a designated space for a mobile food vending unit to operate.
i. Mid-block loading zone on the 0-100 block of South Main Street next to the McDowell Arts Council Building.
ii. City Stage Parking Lot located on North Main Street.
iii. West Henderson Street Parking Lot outside of the Marion Tailgate Market Pavilion.
iv. Brown Drive parking lot behind City Stage.
v. Marion Community Building Park lower level.
4. Use of public sidewalk and other public space.
a. A mobile food vendor may operate a mobile pushcart on a public sidewalk or other approved public space provided that it is designed to be moved manually by no more than one (1) person, and when setup provides a minimum of five-foot sidewalk clearance to allow for adequate pedestrian passage.
b. A mobile food vendor operating on a sidewalk or other approved public space may operate on public property between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 7:00 a.m. and 12:00 a.m. Friday and Saturday unless otherwise posted.
E. Enforcement. A violation of this section or any other applicable City Code shall be cause for immediate revocation of any permit issued pursuant to this section.
(Ord. No. O-21-06-15-5, §1, 6-15-21)