Business Licensing & Operations in Bristol Township, PA (2026)
8 verified business licensing & operations rules for Bristol Township, Pennsylvania, sourced directly from the municipal code and official government pages.
Verified from official government sources
Adult Entertainment
Operating an adult business in Bristol Township takes a permit from the Code Enforcement Officer under Chapter 49, and the permit expires after one year. Zoning adds hard spacing: no adult commercial use within 1,000 feet of homes, schools or churches, and none within 2,000 feet of a similar use.
Adult Business Permit and Spacing in Bristol Township
Significant RestrictionsBristol Township Code § 49-4; § 205-16 (Use D22)
A. It shall be unlawful for any person to engage in, conduct, or carry a permit to be engaged in, conducted or carried on, in or upon any premises within the Township the operation of an adult business unless the person first obtains and continues to maintain in full force and effect a permit issued by the Code Enforcement Officer as required by this chapter. ... D22 Adult Commercial Uses. ... ...
Massage Establishments
No one in Bristol Township, Bucks County, can run a massage business without a massage business license from the Office of Licenses, Zoning and Inspections, and every massagist or employee needs a separate massagist's permit. Each license covers one place of business and lasts one year.
Bristol Township Massage Establishment License and Permit Rules
Significant RestrictionsBristol Township Code § 128-2
§ 128-2. License and permit required. ... A. Business license required. No person shall engage in or carry out the business of massage unless he has a valid massage business license issued by the Bristol Township Office of Licenses, Zoning and Inspections pursuant to the provisions of this chapter for each and every separate office or place of business conducted by such person. B. Massagist's p...
Tattoo & Body Modification
In Bristol Township, Pennsylvania, tattooing and body piercing fall under Use D23 Personal Service Establishment. The building must sit at least 1,000 feet from any residential use or district, school, place of worship, day care center, recreation facility, public park or another personal service establishment.
Tattoo and Body Piercing Studio Rules in Bristol Township
Significant RestrictionsBristol Township Code § 205-16
(24) D23 Personal Service Establishment. (a) Any premises where a personal service artist/operator does body piercing and tattooing, as defined below: ... TATTOO or TATTOOING To mark or color the skin by pricking in, by subcutaneous introduction, nontoxic dyes or pigments so as to form indelible marks or figures or by production of scars. (b) These uses shall be subject to the following provisi...
Tobacco Retail License
In Bristol Township, Pennsylvania, a premises with more than 250 square feet dedicated to cigarettes, cigars, e-cigarettes, chewing tobacco or other tobacco products and paraphernalia is a smoke shop or tobacco store. The zoning code makes it a conditional use in the Commercial District, authorized by Township Council, with 1,000-foot spacing from schools, parks and other tobacco shops.
Bristol Township Smoke Shop and Vape Store Rules
Significant RestrictionsBristol Township Code § 205-16D(34)
D33 Smoke Shops and Tobacco Stores. Any premises having more than 250 square feet dedicated to the delivery, display, distribution, furnishing, marketing, offering and/or sale of cigarettes, cigars, e-cigarettes, chewing tobacco or other tobacco products and paraphernalia. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this title to the contrary, smoke shops and tobacco stores shall be a conditiona...
Secondhand Dealers
In Bristol Township, Pennsylvania, a secondhand dealer or antique dealer is any business, including an itinerant merchant, that buys or appraises used goods for resale or refining. Chapter 142 treats these businesses as dealers, so the licensing, record, daily upload and holding-period rules apply to them, backed by license suspensions.
Bristol Township Secondhand and Antique Dealer Rules
Significant RestrictionsBristol Township Code § 142-4
DEALER A pawnbroker, precious metals dealer, antique dealer and/or secondhand dealer. ... SECONDHAND DEALER OR ANTIQUE DEALER An individual, partnership, association, corporation, or other business entity including an itinerant merchant doing business in Bristol Township that purchases or makes appraisals of secondhand or used good for resale or refining, or an individual who acts as an agent f...
Pawnbrokers
Bristol Township, Pennsylvania, requires a license from its Licenses and Inspections Department for each location where a pawnbroker operates, plus an annual registration fee set by resolution of Township Council. The Township will not issue a pawnbroker license until the applicant holds a Commonwealth of Pennsylvania pawnbroker license. Violations bring fines and 90-day or one-year suspensions.
Bristol Township Pawnbroker License Requirements
Significant RestrictionsBristol Township Code § 142-5
A. License. No person shall act as a dealer unless he or she has obtained a license from the Bristol Township licenses and inspections department for each location from which that person seeks to act as a pawnbroker. B. Registration. No person shall act as a dealer unless he or she pays an annual registration license fee for each location from which the applicant intends to operate. This fee sh...
Auto Repair on Residential Property
Bristol Township's nuisance chapter, enacted by Township Council, permits a vehicle to undergo repair only if the work is performed inside a structure or similarly enclosed area designed and approved for such purposes. A partially dismantled, wrecked, inoperative or unlicensed motor vehicle kept on exterior property for more than seven days is a nuisance.
Bristol Township Rules on Car Repair at Home
Some RestrictionsBristol Township Code § 134-2(N)
The maintaining, using, placing, depositing, leaving or permitting to be or remain on any public or private property of any of the following items, conditions or actions is hereby declared to be and constitute a nuisance; provided, however, that this enumeration shall not be deemed or construed to be conclusive, limiting or restrictive: ... N. Any partially dismantled, wrecked, junked, discarde...
Towing Companies
In Bristol Township, Pennsylvania, a wrecker cannot join the police tow rotation or offer towing to the Township without an annual license from the Bristol Township Managing Director. Township Council caps licenses at five per year in designated areas, bars transfers, and charges $500 per vehicle each year.
Bristol Township Towing Company License Rules
Significant RestrictionsBristol Township Code § 196-2
A. No wrecker shall be available on a rotating schedule to be called by the Township or offer such service to the Township without first obtaining an annual license as hereinafter provided from the Bristol Township Managing Director. B. Based on the determination of the traffic patterns throughout Bristol Township and the areas requiring rapid removal of wrecked vehicles and based on the intere...
Looking for Bucks County county-wide rules?
County ordinances apply to unincorporated areas and may supplement Bristol Township city rules.
Business Licensing & Operations in Bucks County →