Business Licensing & Operations in Roanoke, VA (2026)
7 verified business licensing & operations rules for Roanoke, Virginia, sourced directly from the municipal code and official government pages.
Verified from official government sources
Adult Entertainment
Roanoke's zoning code keeps adult bookstores, adult theatres, adult model studios, and similar adult uses at least 1,000 feet from any other adult use and 500 feet from residential districts, schools, churches, parks, playgrounds, and day care centers. Section 36.2-404 defines the regulated categories and applies the spacing test to new openings, relocations, expansions, and conversions.
Roanoke Adult Use Spacing Rules
Significant RestrictionsRoanoke City Code § 36.2-404(c)
(c)Requirements and standards.(1)No adult use may be established within one thousand (1,000) feet of any other such adult use in any zoning district.(2)No adult use may be established within five hundred (500) feet of a residentially zoned district, or a school, educational institution, place of worship, public park, playground, playfield, or day care center.(3)The "establishment" of an adult u...
Massage Establishments
Every massage parlor doing business in Roanoke must hold a $5,000 annual license under City Code § 19-74.1, due each January and non-transferable; the Commissioner of Revenue will not issue it without a valid massage parlor permit and a health card for each technician.
Roanoke Massage Parlor License Requirements
Significant RestrictionsRoanoke City Code § 19-74.1
(a)Effective January 1, 1982, there is hereby imposed upon every person doing business in this city or holding himself out as doing business in this city as a massage parlor as such term is defined in section 21-135 of this Code, a license tax of five thousand dollars ($5,000.00) per year which shall be due and payable during the month of January of each license year. Such license shall not be ...
Tattoo & Body Modification
Roanoke classifies tattoo parlors and body piercing establishments as 'personal service establishments' under the zoning code's Appendix A definitions, permitted by right in every commercial and mixed-use district under Section 36.2-315. The same Appendix A definitions expressly exclude tattoo parlors and piercing studios from qualifying as a 'personal service home occupation,' so these businesses cannot legally operate out of a private residence.
Roanoke Tattoo Parlor Zoning Placement
Light RestrictionsRoanoke City Code, Zoning Ordinance, Appendix A (Definitions), 'Personal service establishment' and 'Personal service home occupation'; Use Table § 36.2-315
Personal service establishment: An establishment primarily engaged in the provision of frequent or recurrent needed individual services generally related to personal needs, such as the care of a person or a person's apparel, or the training and development of a person, including barber shops, beauty shops, nail salons, tanning salons, pet grooming services, dry cleaning or laundry pick up stati...
Secondhand Dealers
Roanoke defines anyone who buys, sells, barters or exchanges discarded or abandoned used personal property for resale as a junk dealer, and requires a business license from the Commissioner of the Revenue before operating. Canvassers who buy junk on a dealer's behalf need their own license issued in the dealer's name, and the city manager must approve the business location in writing before any license is granted.
Roanoke Junk Dealer License Required
Some RestrictionsRoanoke, VA Code of Ordinances § 29-78
Every person who shall purchase, sell, barter or exchange discarded or abandoned used tangible personal property (junk) for resale shall be deemed a junk dealer. No person shall canvass for the purpose of buying any junk or canvass for any junk dealer, unless such person be appointed and authorized to do so in writing by some junk dealer licensed under Chapter 19 of this Code. Every junk dealer...
Pawnbrokers
Roanoke does not run its own separate pawnbroker licensing scheme: City Code § 29-96 instead adopts the Commonwealth's Pawnbroker Act wholesale, requiring anyone operating as a pawnbroker in the city to comply with every requirement in Code of Virginia §§ 54.1-4000 through 54.1-4014 and exposing violators to the penalties set out in § 54.1-4014.
Roanoke Pawnbroker License Requirements
Some RestrictionsRoanoke, VA Code of Ordinances § 29-96
Any person engaged in the business of a pawnbroker as defined in section 54.1-4000, Code of Virginia, within the city shall comply with all of the requirements set forth within sections 54.1-4000 through 54.1-4014, Code of Virginia, and shall be subject to the penalties established by section 54.1-4014, Code of Virginia, for any violation of such sections.
Auto Repair on Residential Property
A motor vehicle repair business run from a Roanoke home may operate only as office functions under Sec. 36.2-413(g)(2): no actual repair, service, or wrenching on vehicles at the dwelling is permitted as a home occupation, only administrative work like scheduling and billing.
Roanoke Limits Home Auto Repair to Office Work
Significant RestrictionsRoanoke City Code § 36.2-413(g)(2)
(g)Specific standards for certain types of home occupations.(1)Home occupations relating to landscaping or lawn services may operate as a home occupation if the home occupation is used only for office functions.(2)Home occupations relating to repair and service on motor vehicles, appliances, or similar goods, may operate as a home occupation, if the home occupation is used only for office funct...
Towing Companies
Roanoke's zoning code requires any towing service use to sit on a lot of at least 20,000 square feet and bars keeping damaged or wrecked vehicles outdoors for more than 120 calendar days unless the Zoning Administrator is shown proof of an active law-enforcement, insurance, or Code of Virginia § 43-34 lien proceeding.
Roanoke Towing Service Site and Storage Rules
Some RestrictionsRoanoke Zoning Ordinance § 36.2-430
(a)The lot area designated for the towing service use shall contain a minimum of twenty thousand (20,000) square feet;(b)There shall be no outdoor storage of any damaged or inoperative motor vehicles or trailers for a period exceeding one hundred twenty (120) calendar days, unless documentation is provided that is satisfactory to the Zoning Administrator evidencing that such a damaged or inoper...