Shoreline, WA Business Licensing & Operations: Massage Establishments (2026)

Shoreline's regulated massage business ordinance, codified at SMC §§ 5.07.300 through 5.07.355, requires two separate licenses before a massage business can open: a regulated massage business license for the establishment (§ 5.07.305) and, unless the manager is also the licensed massage practitioner (§ 5.07.315), a separate city massage manager's license. Practitioners performing the actual massage work must independently hold a current Washington State massage practitioner's license under § 5.07.310; the city does not issue practitioner credentials itself. All applications for a business or manager license go through a Shoreline Police Department background check (§ 5.07.320(C)), and the clerk refers premises to the Seattle-King County health department and the fire marshal for a sanitation and safety inspection before licensing (§ 5.07.325).

Licensed premises must keep three years of service receipts open to police inspection, post a list of services and prices, and bar liquor or controlled substances on site (§ 5.07.325(B), (H), (I)). Detailed sanitation rules cover lighting, linen handling, disinfection of tools, and separate facilities by gender (§ 5.07.345). The clerk must deny an application for a felony or sex-offense conviction within the past five years, zoning or fire code noncompliance, or a prior license denial or revocation within three years (§ 5.07.330). A license can be suspended or revoked for sanitation, conduct, or code violations found on inspection, following written notice of violation (§ 5.07.335).

Standards of conduct prohibit touching or exposing a patron's genitals and require the practitioner's own sexual and genital areas to stay covered by opaque clothing (§ 5.07.350). Licenses are not transferable between owners or locations (§ 5.07.340). Any violation of Chapter 5.07 is a misdemeanor punished under state law penalties (§ 5.07.100).