Cherokee County, GA Business Licensing & Operations: Massage Establishments (2026)

Code of Ordinances Section 18-239 bars anyone from operating a massage business without a valid county-issued license for each separate office, and that office can only be located in a C-2 zone under the county's zoning chapter. Section 18-240 separately requires every person who practices massage as a massagist or employee to hold a valid massagist's permit, and Section 18-241 makes it unlawful to employ anyone as a massagist without one. The establishment application under Section 18-242 is extensive: it goes to the county marshal's designee, requires fingerprints and a 2-inch by 2-inch photo of the applicant (and of officers, stockholders over 10 percent, or partners if the applicant is a corporation or partnership), a full business history, any prior license revocations, and referral to the chief building official, fire department and marshal's office for a compliance inspection within 30 days.

The massagist's permit application under Section 18-243 additionally demands a medical certificate confirming freedom from communicable disease within 7 days of application, proof of at least 70 hours of instruction at a recognized school, fingerprints, and statements from five bona fide references. Section 18-244 lets the county deny either license for unpaid fees, noncompliant zoning or building plans, a disqualifying conviction (violence, sexual misconduct, or narcotics/weapons offenses, unless five conviction-free years have passed), fraud in the application, or a license already revoked elsewhere within five years.

Section 18-245 imposes detailed facility standards: waterproofed steam and shower rooms, disinfecting equipment for reusable tools, separate clean and soiled linen storage, and sex-separated toilets when patrons of both sexes are present. Licenses and permits expire every January 1 under Section 18-246, regardless of issue date.