Assigned to GOV FOR COMMITTEE
ARIZONA STATE SENATE
Fifty-Sixth Legislature, Second Regular Session
FACT SHEET FOR H.B. 2328
mobile food vendors; operation; rules
Purpose
Allows a mobile food vendor to operate on private residential property in a residential area
if the mobile food vendor meets prescribed requirements.
Background
A city or town, by ordinance or resolution, may prohibit or restrict a mobile food vendor
from operating in an area zoned for residential use or within 250 feet of an area zoned for
residential use. A city or town may not require a mobile food vendor, property owner or lessee of
a property to apply for any special permit that is not required for other temporary or mobile vending
businesses in the same district (A.R.S. § 9-485.01).
The county board of supervisors (county BOS), by ordinance or resolution, may: 1) restrict
or prohibit the operation of a mobile food unit in an area that is zoned as residential only;
2) prohibit a mobile food unit that is operating on private property from blocking ingress to and
egress from the property; and 3) require a mobile food vendor to obtain consent from a private
property owner before operating on the property. The county BOS may not restrict how long a
mobile food unit may operate at a private property location, except that a mobile food vendor may
not operate at a private property for more than 96 consecutive hours (A.R.S. § 11-269.24).
The Director of the Department of Health Services (DHS) must adopt rules that establish
the health and safety licensing standards for mobile food vendors and mobile food units, including
the health and safety licensing standards for necessary commissary or other servicing area
agreements. The Director of DHS must also establish a licensing process for mobile food units that
delegates to the county health department in the county where the mobile food vendors
commissary is located the licensing and health and safety inspection standards. A city, town or
county may require a mobile food vendor to have a fingerprint clearance card (A.R.S. § 36-1761).
A mobile food vendor is any person who owns, controls, manages or leases a mobile food
unit or contracts with a person to prepare foods and vend from, drive or operate a mobile food unit
(A.R.S. § 11-269.24).
There is no anticipated fiscal impact to the state General Fund associated with this
legislation.
Provisions
1. Allows a mobile food vendor to operate on private residential property in a residential area if:
a) the mobile food vendor obtains written permission from the property owner and the
property owner remains on the property while the mobile food vendor is operating; FACT SHEET
H.B. 2328
Page 2
b) the residential property is the primary residence of the property owner, a tenant with a lease
term of one year or longer or a trustee of the living trust that owns the residential property;
c) the mobile food vendor does not serve members of the general public;
d) the mobile food vendor and the property owner, the spouse of the property owner or, in the
case of a living trust, the trustee are not the same person;
e) the mobile food vendor does not serve food between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m.;
f) the mobile food vendor removes the food waste, cooking grease and other trash from the
residential property in compliance with applicable laws and regulations; and
g) the mobile food vendor is parked on the property at the private residential property unless
otherwise allowed by the local zoning ordinance.
2. Caps, at $150, the annual fee that a city or town may require a mobile food vendor to pay for
each:
a) fixed location, for a city or town that issues a location-based license or permit; and
b) mobile food unit, for a mobile food vendor that does not operate the mobile food unit at a
fixed location.
3. Specifies that the $150 cap on fees does not preclude a city or town from imposing fees relating
to municipal zoning on a mobile food vendor.
4. Prohibits the county BOS from requiring generators to be permanently affixed to the mobile
food unit.
5. Requires the DHS licensing standards to allow a mobile food unit to request an exemption
from the commissary or other servicing area requirements if the mobile food unit is sufficiently
equipped to meet health and safety standards without the use of a commissary or other
servicing area.
6. Requires, for a mobile food vendor that does not require a commissary, DHS to delegate the
licensing and health and safety inspection for state licensure to the county health department
in which the mobile food vendor resides.
7. Specifies that the newly prescribed requirements relating to a mobile food vendor do not
preclude a city, town or county from requiring a mobile food vendor to be licensed if the
licensing system includes a fingerprint clearance card issued by the Department of Public
Safety.
8. Makes technical changes.
9. Becomes effective on the general effective date.
House Action
RA 1/31/24 DPA 5-0-0-1
3
rd
Read 2/29/24 39-19-1-0-1
Prepared by Senate Research
March 18, 2024
JT/MA/slp