Business Licensing & Operations in Glendale, AZ (2026)
7 verified business licensing & operations rules for Glendale, Arizona, sourced directly from the municipal code and official government pages.
Verified from official government sources
Adult Entertainment
Glendale requires a separate City license for every adult business operator, manager and performer under Chapter 21.2, with background checks, fingerprinting, and disqualification for recent sex-crime or prostitution convictions before the Tax and License Division can approve an application.
Glendale Adult Business License Requirements
Significant RestrictionsGlendale Code of Ordinances § 21.2-21
Sec. 21.2-21. - Licenses required.(a)Subject to subsections (b) and (c) of this section, it shall be unlawful for any person to:(1)Operate an adult business without first having obtained an operator's license issued under this chapter;(2)Operate an adult business at any time without the presence on the adult business premises of a manager who possesses a manager's license and identification car...
Massage Establishments
Anyone who operates a massage or bodywork establishment in Glendale must hold a city license separate from the state massage therapist license, and every applicant and controlling person must submit fingerprints for an Arizona DPS and FBI background check. Establishments must close to massage and bodywork services between 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m.
Glendale Massage Establishment License Rules
Significant RestrictionsGlendale Code of Ordinances § 22-4
(a)A person desiring to practice or in any manner to claim to practice massage therapy must first obtain and maintain in effect a current, unrevoked, and unsuspended massage therapist license as required by Arizona Revised Statutes and issued by the Arizona State Board of Massage Therapy.(b)A person desiring to conduct or operate a massage establishment or bodywork establishment must first obta...
Tattoo & Body Modification
Glendale's zoning code keeps tattoo and piercing studios 1,000 feet from each other, pawn shops, liquor stores and adult businesses, and bans them outright in all four downtown Centerline Overlay character areas regardless of that spacing.
Glendale Tattoo Studio Spacing Rules
Significant RestrictionsGlendale Code of Ordinances §§ 35.3.103(CC), 35.8.003
CC.Tattoo and Piercing Studio1.Use shall not be located within one thousand (1,000) feet of another Tattoo or Piercing Studio, a Pawn Shop or Non-Chartered/Non-Traditional Financial Institution, Liquor Store, or Adult Business. [35.8.003, Use Standard Definitions] Tattoo and Piercing Studio: An establishment that produces an indelible mark or figure on the human body by scarring or inserting p...
Tobacco Retail License
Glendale zones smoke and vape shops by commercial district: Table 2.500-1 under Section 35.2.502 bans a 'Retail, Smoke and Vape Shop' outright in the C-1 and Pedestrian Retail (PR) districts, allows it only with a Conditional Use Permit in C-2, and permits it by right only in the Heavy Commercial C-3 district.
Glendale Smoke & Vape Shop Zoning Rules
Significant RestrictionsGlendale Code of Ordinances §§ 35.8.003, 35.2.502
Retail, Smoke/ Vape Shop: A cigar shop, hookah lounge, head shop, electronic cigarette or other retail establishment where the primary activity is the sale of tobacco and smoking related goods/paraphernalia. Smoke shops do not include any individual business establishments that contain tobacco departments/sections that are ancillary to their principal use. [...] Table 2.500-1: Table of Allowed ...
Secondhand Dealers
Glendale requires a special regulatory license for anyone buying, selling or trading secondhand goods, with exemptions for antique dealers and used-parts sellers, plus mandatory ID checks and two-business-day police reporting on covered items.
Glendale Secondhand Dealer Licensing Rules
Significant RestrictionsGlendale Code of Ordinances § 21-1
Secondhand dealer: Any owner or operator of a business which buys, sells, trades, exchanges, takes consignments or otherwise deals in secondhand goods, wares or merchandise, whether such business be the principal or sole business so carried on or be merely incidental to, in connection with, or a branch or a department of some other business; provided, that the following persons shall not be con...
Pawnbrokers
Glendale defines a pawnshop by reference to the state pawnbroker's license under A.R.S. § 44-1627, requires a City special regulatory license before operating one, and forces daily reporting of pledged goods to the police within two business days.
Glendale Pawnshop Operator Licensing Rules
Significant RestrictionsGlendale Code of Ordinances § 21-41(b)
Whenever goods or articles, as described below, are obtained from a particular person by a pawnshop or secondhand dealer, whether by consignment, deposit, pawn, pledge, trade or purchase, such licensee shall be required to deliver to the chief of police, or his designee, within two (2) business days after receipt, a true and complete report of all such goods or articles received by such licensee.
Towing Companies
A private towing carrier in Glendale cannot tow a vehicle off private property without the owner's permission unless the lot is posted with code-compliant signs and the carrier holds a signed towing order or a written contract with the property owner capped at one year. Fees are capped by council resolution and the city can pull a carrier's regulatory license for repeat violations.
Glendale Private Property Towing Rules
Significant RestrictionsGlendale Code of Ordinances § 24-211
(a)It shall be unlawful to tow or transport a motor vehicle from private property without the permission of the owner or operator of the vehicle except upon request from a law enforcement agency or the express written permission from the private property owner who has otherwise complied with this section. The private property owner shall either sign each towing order or authorize the tow or tra...
Looking for Maricopa County county-wide rules?
County ordinances apply to unincorporated areas and may supplement Glendale city rules.
Business Licensing & Operations in Maricopa County →