Business Licensing & Operations in New Orleans, LA (2026)
7 verified business licensing & operations rules for New Orleans, Louisiana, sourced directly from the municipal code and official government pages.
Verified from official government sources
Adult Entertainment
New Orleans bars adult bookstores from operating within 2,000 feet of any church, school or playground under City Code § 54-257, measured along the sidewalk from property line to property line. Separately, Chapter 30 requires every escort service to hold a $500.00 license investigated by the police superintendent before the department of finance may grant it.
New Orleans Adult Bookstore Spacing, Escort License
Significant RestrictionsNew Orleans Code of Ordinances § 54-257; §§ 30-501, 30-503, 30-505
§ 54-257(a): "It shall be unlawful for any adult bookstore to operate within 2,000 feet of any church, school or playground." § 54-257(c): "The 2,000-foot distance provided for in subsection (a) of this section shall be measured as a person walks, using the sidewalk, from the nearest point of the property line of the church, school, or playground, to the nearest point of the premises containing...
Massage Establishments
New Orleans requires a City Council-authorized annual license from the Department of Health to operate any massage establishment. Owners submit fingerprints, photos, a three-year address and employment history, $1,000,000 in liability coverage, and pass a police-and-permits investigation before the director may issue the license.
New Orleans Massage Establishment License
Significant RestrictionsNew Orleans City Code §§ 30-956, 30-957, 30-958, 30-960
No person shall carry on the business of operating a massage establishment at any place within the city unless he has a valid license issued pursuant to the provisions of this division for each and every place of business. ... Within 60 days of the receipt of an application, the director of the department of health shall either grant or deny a massage license. ... The director of the department...
Tattoo & Body Modification
New Orleans bans tattooing outright on Bourbon Street between St. Ann and Canal Streets, part of a Vieux Carré ordinance that also bars massage, adult activity and souvenir/T-shirt sales in that stretch, with fines up to $2,000 for repeat violations.
New Orleans Bourbon Street Tattoo Ban
Significant RestrictionsNew Orleans Code of Ordinances § 166-152 (Ch. 166, Art. V)
Sec. 166-152. - Unlawful activities. It shall be unlawful for any person in the public way of Bourbon Street or on any parcel of property fronting on or designated by a municipal number on Bourbon Street between St. Ann and Canal Streets to engage in tattooing, adult activity, massage or the sale of souvenirs, gifts, novelties or T-shirts. (Code 1956, § 65-42)
Tobacco Retail License
New Orleans doesn't issue a dedicated tobacco retail license, but City Code §§ 66-75 and 66-77 tightly control where a retailer can operate: no tobacco sales within 300 feet of any park, church, library, school or childcare facility, and no tobacco retailer may open at all inside a residential or park-and-recreation zoning district. Stores already open when each rule passed are grandfathered.
New Orleans Tobacco Retailer Location Rules
Significant RestrictionsNew Orleans City Code §§ 66-75, 66-77
Sec. 66-75. It is hereby declared that the sense and policy of this section is that no tobacco retailer shall be permitted to sell, donate, distribute, or deliver to any person(s), whether or not any form of consideration is provided, tobacco products within 300 feet of any park, church, public library, school, or any childcare facility or similar entity providing structured, organized care for...
Secondhand Dealers
New Orleans requires every junk dealer, anyone buying, selling, or gathering scrap metal, wiring, or other secondhand property for resale, to hold a current Occupational License from the parish under Code of Ordinances Sec. 130-39, plus a written purchase-and-sale record for every transaction, keyed to seller ID, submitted for police inspection and preserved for at least three years.
New Orleans Junk & Secondhand Dealer License
Some RestrictionsNew Orleans Code of Ordinances § 130-39
As used in this section, "junk dealer" includes any person engaged in the business of buying, selling and dealing in junk, any person purchasing, gathering, collecting, soliciting or traveling about from place to place procuring junk, and any person operating, carrying on, conducting or maintaining a junk yard or place where junk is gathered together and stored or kept for shipment, sale or tra...
Pawnbrokers
New Orleans licenses pawnbrokers through its occupational license tax code rather than a standalone permit article: Sec. 150-963(d)(1) sets a $300.00 minimum annual license tax based on gross receipts plus loans made, and bars any pawnshop from locating within 300 feet of a licensed gaming establishment or riverboat docking facility, measured by sidewalk or straight-line distance.
New Orleans Pawnbroker License & Location Rule
Some RestrictionsNew Orleans Code of Ordinances § 150-963(d)(1)
For every pawnbroker, or person keeping a loan office and engaged in lending money on articles pawned or pledged, and for each and every money broker, money lender, or person lending money on, or purchasing time, wages, or salaries of laborers, clerks, or other wage earners or other persons, whether the same be earned or unearned, and whether the business is conducted in an office or otherwise,...
Towing Companies
New Orleans caps non-consent tow fees at the Louisiana Public Service Commission's mandatory tariff and gives vehicle owners a ten-day right to an administrative hearing before NOPD's towing and recovery unit to challenge the tow.
New Orleans Non-Consent Towing Rules
Some RestrictionsNew Orleans Code of Ordinances § 162-1016, § 162-1017
The maximum charges or fees for emergency towing by a vehicle owner or operator using the towing allocation list, and for towing performed without the knowledge and consent of the owner or operator of a vehicle, shall be set in accordance with the mandatory tariff schedule set forth by the Louisiana Public Service Commission Schedule of Prescribed Rates and Requirements for Non-Consensual Towin...