Pitt County, NC Business Licensing & Operations: Massage Establishments (2026)

Ordinance No. 2, the Ordinance Regulating Adult Establishments Sexually Oriented Businesses, defines 'Massage Parlor' in Section 2 as an establishment or business wherein massage is practiced, including health clubs, physical culture studios, massage studios or massage parlors, where the massage involves the massage or touching of specified anatomical areas of the body. Section 3 lists Massage Parlors among the nine classifications of sexually oriented business alongside adult arcades, bookstores, cabarets, motels, theaters, escort agencies and sexual encounter centers, which means a business meeting that definition falls under the same license, fee, spacing, inspection and revocation regime as any other sexually oriented business.

A separate, older regulatory track no longer exists: on May 8, 2017 the Board of Commissioners adopted a Resolution repealing Pitt County Planning and Development Services Ordinance No. 6, the 1987 Massage Business License Ordinance, after the resolution recited that the 2014 elimination of local privilege license tax authority left that ordinance unenforceable and duplicative of Ordinance No. 2's coverage of massage parlors. Legitimate massage therapy businesses that do not involve touching of specified anatomical areas as defined in Ordinance No. 2 fall outside this definition and are not licensed under this county ordinance; state licensure of massage and bodywork therapists is handled separately by the NC Board of Massage & Bodywork Therapy.