Loudoun County, VA Business Licensing & Operations: Massage Establishments (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing section
- Zoning Ordinance § 4.05.12.B
- Minimum facility size
- 5,000 sq ft gross floor area
- Massage area cap
- 5% of gross floor area
- Prior county license
- Repealed by Ordinance 18-01 (2018)
- State-level licensing
- Handled outside county authority
Summary
Loudoun County has no standalone massage-parlor license. Codified Ordinances Chapter 820, Massage Regulation, was repealed by Ordinance 18-01 in 2018. Today the only local control sits in the Zoning Ordinance: a Health and Fitness Center may offer massage services only if the facility has at least 5,000 square feet of gross floor area and devotes no more than 5% of that area to massage, per Section 4.05.12.B.
Massage Services. A Health and Fitness Center may provide massage services if: 1. The Health and Fitness Center must contain at least 5,000 square feet of gross floor area; and 2. No more than 5% of the total gross floor area is used for massage services.
Full Breakdown
Massage businesses in Loudoun County are no longer separately licensed at the county level. Chapter 820 of the Codified Ordinances, titled Massage Regulation, had required massage-establishment permits since a 1997 ordinance amended in 2008, but the Board of Supervisors repealed the chapter outright through Ordinance 18-01 on February 14, 2018, leaving no county massage-parlor licensing scheme in the general code today. 12. Subsection B allows a Health and Fitness Center to provide massage services only as an accessory function, conditioned on the center containing a minimum of 5,000 square feet of gross floor area and limiting massage space to no more than 5% of total gross floor area, roughly 250 square feet in a facility at the size floor.
Stand-alone massage establishments that are not part of a qualifying Health and Fitness Center are not addressed by this section, which functions as a zoning cap rather than an operator license. C, including a dedicated pickup/drop-off zone and building-entrance separation from industrial vehicular circulation, though those criteria apply to the use generally rather than to the massage component specifically. State licensure of individual massage therapists is handled separately, outside county authority.
Violations & Fines
A Health and Fitness Center that exceeds the 5% gross-floor-area cap on massage services, or that offers massage without meeting the 5,000-square-foot floor-area threshold, is out of compliance with its approved Zoning Permit or Site Plan and subject to Zoning Ordinance enforcement under Section 10.13: notice and a cure period from the Zoning Administrator, then civil penalties of $200 for a first offense and $500 per day after, capped at $5,000, before criminal misdemeanor exposure attaches.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Loudoun County require a separate massage-parlor license?
How much of a gym or fitness center can be used for massage?
Can someone open a stand-alone massage business in Loudoun County?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Loudoun County
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