Livonia, MI Business Licensing & Operations: Massage Establishments (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing chapter
- Livonia Code of Ordinances Ch. 5.49
- Licensing authority
- State of Michigan, not the city
- Local requirement
- Display the state license prominently
- Chapter rewritten
- Ordinance 2960, adopted March 27, 2014
- Definition source
- Zoning Ordinance § 2.08
Summary
Livonia does not run its own massage-establishment licensing scheme; instead it requires every person providing massage services in a massage establishment to hold a State of Michigan license and display it prominently on the premises.
No person, partnership, joint venture, corporation or organization of any kind shall engage in the business of operating, conducting or maintaining a massage establishment, as defined in Section 2.08 of the City of Livonia Zoning Ordinance, adopted herein by reference, without first obtaining a license from the State of Michigan for each and every person who will be providing massage services.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 64 | Zoning: Supplement 3).
Full Breakdown
49, retitled and rewritten in its entirety by Ordinance 2960 in 2014, now covers only two operative sections. 08 of the City of Livonia Zoning Ordinance, without every person providing massage services first obtaining a license from the State of Michigan. Livonia does not issue its own separate massage-therapist or massage-establishment license; the city instead relies on and enforces the state licensing requirement locally. 020 requires every person licensed by the State of Michigan as a massage therapist within an establishment defined under the zoning ordinance to display that state license in a prominent place on the premises.
030, is reserved and contains no substantive text. Because the operative rule is the state license requirement plus local display, an establishment operating without any state-licensed practitioner, or with a practitioner whose license is not posted, is out of compliance with this chapter even though Livonia is not the licensing authority.
Violations & Fines
Operating a massage establishment where a provider lacks a State of Michigan massage license, or failing to display that license as required by Section 5.49.020, violates Chapter 5.49. Because the current chapter does not itself restate a local penalty schedule, enforcement runs through the city's general penalty provisions for code violations and, separately, through the State of Michigan's own massage therapist licensing enforcement for practitioners operating without a state license.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Livonia issue its own massage establishment license?
What must a licensed massage therapist do in Livonia besides hold a state license?
What counts as a massage establishment under Livonia's ordinance?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Livonia
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Massage Establishments in Nearby Cities
How other cities in Wayne County handle massage establishments.