Business Licensing & Operations in Lafayette, LA (2026)
5 verified business licensing & operations rules for Lafayette, Louisiana, sourced directly from the municipal code and official government pages.
Verified from official government sources
Adult Entertainment
Lafayette bans adult novelty stores, adult bookstores, and adult video stores from operating within 300 feet of any school, nursery school, daycare, public library, or public playground, and within 175 feet of any church or synagogue, under City Code § 18-3. The rule reaches only the City of Lafayette, not the unincorporated parish, and it defines a covered store by a 25-percent inventory, revenue, or floor-space test.
Lafayette Adult Store Spacing Rule
Significant RestrictionsLafayette City-Parish Code of Ordinances § 18-3
This section only applies in the City of Lafayette. Adult novelty stores, adult bookstores or adult video stores shall be prohibited from operating within a distance of 300 feet of any nursery school, daycare, public library, public playground or school (except business colleges, business schools or the University of Louisiana at Lafayette). Such distance shall be measured as a person walks usi...
Secondhand Dealers
Lafayette requires anyone buying, selling or trading used property as a business to hold a secondhand dealer permit from the administrative services department. The $50 annual permit expires every December 31, is tied to one address, and sits behind a sworn application plus a $2,500 surety bond.
Lafayette Secondhand Dealer Permit Rules
Significant RestrictionsLafayette, LA City Code § 90-54
(a)The permit provided for in this division shall be issued by the department. All permits issued under this division shall be for the personal use of the applicant.(b)Separate permits shall be required for each and every place of business operated. The address of each place of business shall be contained on the permit. All permits issued shall be personal to the permittee and applicable only t...
Pawnbrokers
Anyone operating as a pawnbroker or lending against pledged goods, wages or salaries in Lafayette Parish needs an occupational license, taxed under Sec. 82-676 on the business's average annual capital -- from $350.00 to $1,000.00 a year -- with a separate license required for each additional office.
Lafayette Pawnbroker Occupational License Tax
Some RestrictionsLafayette City-Parish Code of Ordinances § 82-676
For each and every pawnbroker or person keeping a loan office and engaging in lending money on articles pawned or pledged, and for each and every moneybroker, moneylender or person lending money on or purchasing time, wages or salaries of laborers, clerks or other wage earners or other persons... the license tax shall be based on the annual average of the actual capital in use in the business.....
Auto Repair on Residential Property
Lafayette does not allow auto or truck repair as a home business in residential zoning. Table 89-83-1 of UDC Sec. 89-83 lists "Auto and truck repair" as a conditional [C] use only in the "A" Agricultural district: it carries no permitted or conditional status in "RS," "RM," the unincorporated parish, or "MN"/Commercial-Mixed Use.
Lafayette Home Auto Repair Zoning Limit
Significant RestrictionsLafayette (LA) Unified Development Code Sec. 89-83, Table 89-83-1
Table 89-83-1 Permitted Home Occupations (see § 89-21 for definition of permitted [P] and conditional [C] uses). Use Category: "A" Agricultural | "RS" Single-Family Residential | "RM" Mixed Residential | Unincorporated Parish | "MN" Mixed Use Neighborhood Commercial/Mixed Use. Vehicles/Equipment: Auto and truck repair — C [Agricultural column only; all other columns blank].
Towing Companies
Wrecker operators who tow a vehicle from private property in Lafayette without the owner's consent must hand over a city-parish inventory form itemizing every fee before collecting payment, and must notify law enforcement within 24 hours. Sec. 98-163 backs that with a fee-dispute right under Sec. 98-195, and Sec. 98-103 makes article violations a misdemeanor.
Lafayette's Non-Consent Tow Notice Rules
Significant RestrictionsLafayette City-Parish Code of Ordinances § 98-163(d)
Following a nonconsensual private property tow, a wrecker operator shall provide written documentation to the owner of such towed vehicle on inventory forms to be provided by the city-parish consolidated government containing a breakdown of all fees that are permitted to be charged under the terms of this division for the towing and storage of such vehicle and advising the owner of his rights t...
Looking for Lafayette Parish county-wide rules?
County ordinances apply to unincorporated areas and may supplement Lafayette city rules.
Business Licensing & Operations in Lafayette Parish →