Stedman, NC Business Licensing & Operations: Massage Establishments (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing sections
- Zoning Ordinance §§ 3.41(d), 3.42(e)
- Massage parlors/health salons
- Prohibited townwide
- Medical exception
- Hospitals, clinics, licensed physicians
- Exercise-club exception
- Single-sex, no massage of any form
- Other exception
- Barber shops and beauty parlors
- Max penalty
- $50 fine or 30 days jail, per day
Summary
In the Town of Stedman, North Carolina, a massage parlor is not licensed, it is banned. Zoning Ordinance § 3.41(d) defines the term broadly and § 3.42(e) lists massage parlors and health salons among the special entertainment uses prohibited townwide.
(d) Massage parlors. Any establishment which offers service in the form of massage, bath, exercises, or similar services in combination, to club members or to the public for a charge. (1) The term massage parlor does not include: (a) Hospitals, nursing homes, medical clinics, or the offices or quarters of licensed physician, a surgeon or an osteopath. (b) Exercise clubs exclusively for members or clientele of one sex alone where the service, without massage in any form, is performed by person of the same sex as the members or the clientele. (c) Barber shops and beauty parlors. (2) For the purpose of this article, the terms massage parlors, health clubs or health salons are used synonymously as defined herein, by the above definition for massage parlors. ... 3.42. Prohibited Uses. ... (e) Physical culture establishments, masseurs, massage parlors and health salons.
Full Breakdown
Stedman's zoning ordinance groups massage establishments with the other special entertainment uses it finds objectionable rather than issuing them a business license. 41(d) defines a massage parlor as any establishment offering massage, bath, exercise or similar services in combination, to club members or the public, for a charge, and it treats the terms massage parlor, health club and health salon as synonymous for purposes of the article. The definition carves out three narrow exceptions: hospitals, nursing homes, medical clinics and the offices of a licensed physician, surgeon or osteopath; single-sex exercise clubs that provide no massage of any form and are staffed only by employees of the same sex as the clientele; and ordinary barber shops and beauty parlors.
Anything broader than those carve-outs falls under the massage-parlor definition. ' Because the use is banned rather than licensed, there is no application, fee schedule or inspection process to describe: an operator cannot cure the problem with a license, only by fitting within one of the three narrow exceptions written into the definition itself.
Violations & Fines
Operating a massage parlor, health club or health salon that does not fit the hospital, single-sex-exercise or barber/beauty-shop exceptions is a prohibited use under § 3.42(e) and a zoning violation. Section 12.342 makes any zoning violation a misdemeanor punishable by up to a $50 fine or up to 30 days in jail, with each day of continued operation a separate offense, and the town may seek an order under § 12.341 to stop the use.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I open a massage business in Stedman?
Does Stedman license massage therapists separately?
Is a spa attached to a hair salon allowed in Stedman?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Stedman
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