Business Licensing & Operations in St. Petersburg, FL (2026)
7 verified business licensing & operations rules for St. Petersburg, Florida, sourced directly from the municipal code and official government pages.
Verified from official government sources
Adult Entertainment
St. Petersburg requires a City-issued adult use license before operating any adult cabaret, arcade, theater, bookstore, or similar establishment, and separately bars any adult use from locating within 400 feet of residential zoning, a church, school, child care facility, or park, or within 750 feet of another adult use, under City Code §§ 16.50.030.5 and 17-323.
St. Petersburg Adult Use License and Spacing Rules
Significant RestrictionsSt. Petersburg City Code §§ 16.50.030.5, 17-323
A.No adult use establishment may be located within 400 feet of any of the following uses which use is legally in existence or has received legal authority to locate on a site, lot or parcel:1.Any property within a zoning district with an NS, NT, NSM, NTM, NPUD or NMH designation;2.Any portion of a mixed-use zoning district developed and utilized as a single or multifamily residential use; or3.A...
Tattoo & Body Modification
St. Petersburg treats tattoo parlors and body piercing studios as a distinct land use under the Chapter 16 zoning matrix, City Code § 16.10.020.1, separate from ordinary personal-service businesses like salons or spas. Operators also owe an annual 'Tattooing' business tax under § 17-135, item (143), tracked separately from cosmetic 'paramedical tattooing' performed in a medical office.
St. Petersburg Tattoo Parlor Zoning and Tax Rules
Some RestrictionsSt. Petersburg City Code § 16.10.020.1
Establishments for servicing, repairing, or installing tangible personal property or providing personal services including, but not limited to, the following: self service laundromat, dry cleaning, catering, tattoo parlors, and body piercing studios; services and repair of radios, televisions, computers and related equipment, and sound reproduction systems; locksmith shops; and small appliance ...
Tobacco Retail License
St. Petersburg City Code § 20-125 bans self-service merchandising of e-cigarettes and liquid nicotine, requires retailers to check ID before selling to anyone appearing under 27, and bars sale to or possession by anyone under 18. Stores must post a sign at least one foot by two feet warning of the minimum age, and use is banned in city parks and athletic facilities.
St. Petersburg Vape and E-Cigarette Retail Rules
Some RestrictionsSt. Petersburg City Code § 20-125
(c)Prohibition of sale to minors and purchase by minors.(1)No person under the age of 18 years shall knowingly purchase or possess an electronic cigarette, liquid nicotine, or other similar product.(2)No person, business, or other establishment shall sell, permit to be sold, or offer for sale any e-cigarette, liquid nicotine, or similar product to any person under 18 years of age or to a person...
Secondhand Dealers
St. Petersburg taxes secondhand merchants and junk dealers as separate business classifications under the Chapter 17 tax schedule, City Code § 17-135. 'Junk dealers' covers buying or selling junk, waste, scrap metal, or used materials, while 'Secondhand merchants/sales' is its own line item: a business is taxed under only one of the overlapping categories, not both.
St. Petersburg Secondhand and Junk Dealer Tax Rules
Some RestrictionsSt. Petersburg City Code § 17-135, items (80) & (132)
(80)Junk dealers. Buying and/or selling junk, waste, or used materials, including scrap metal. Tax unless taxed as a wrecking yard, or taxed as secondhand sales when sales confined to household furnishings or to the sale of wearing apparel. Includes: junk gatherers, yards or shops. ... (131)Savings and loan associations and banks.(132)Secondhand merchants/sales.(133)Secretarial, stenographer ...
Pawnbrokers
St. Petersburg classifies pawnbroking as its own taxed business category under City Code § 17-135, item (104): 'Lending money on personal property, when such property is delivered to the pawnee as security for the loan.' Like other Category I businesses, pawnbrokers pay by employee count and can't be double-taxed under an overlapping classification such as secondhand sales or jewelers.
St. Petersburg Pawnbroker Business Tax Rules
Some RestrictionsSt. Petersburg City Code § 17-135, item (104)
(104)Pawnbrokers. Lending money on personal property, when such property is delivered to the pawnee as security for the loan. Tax unless taxed as secondhand sales, antique dealer, jewelers, junk dealer, or merchant.
Auto Repair on Residential Property
St. Petersburg classifies motor vehicle repair at a residence as a hobby, not a home business, under City Code § 16.50.170.2. The repaired vehicle must belong to the resident or a household family member, the work must stay inside the house, garage, or behind the front façade, and it's capped at 25 percent of the home's living area, with power tools and noise barred between 9:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m.
St. Petersburg Home Vehicle Repair Rules
Some RestrictionsSt. Petersburg City Code § 16.50.170.2
Where a hobby includes the repair (which term shall, for the purposes of this section, include rebuilding) of a motor vehicle in a residential district, such hobby shall also be subject to the following requirements:1.For the purposes of this section, a motor vehicle shall have its commonly accepted definition and shall also include all forms of domestic equipment and commercial equipment as de...
Towing Companies
St. Petersburg requires any towing service that tows a vehicle parked in the City to accept cash, debit card, or any major credit card from the owner at any point in the tow, before, during, or after, and caps card-payment surcharges at 3% of the towing fee under section 20-84.
St. Petersburg Private-Property Towing Rules
Some RestrictionsSt. Petersburg City Code § 20-84(b)-(c)
(b)Acceptable forms of payment. Any towing service towing motor vehicles parked within the City shall, at a minimum, accept the following forms of payment from the vehicle's registered owner or other authorized representative, regardless of whether payment is offered before the tow has started, while the towing service is in the process of the tow, or after the tow has been completed: cash, deb...
Looking for Pinellas County county-wide rules?
County ordinances apply to unincorporated areas and may supplement St. Petersburg city rules.
Business Licensing & Operations in Pinellas County →