Business Licensing & Operations in Warwick, RI (2026)
5 verified business licensing & operations rules for Warwick, Rhode Island, sourced directly from the municipal code and official government pages.
Verified from official government sources
Adult Entertainment
Warwick's zoning code allows adult entertainment businesses in only one zoning district, General Industrial (GI), and only by special use permit from the zoning board of review. Table 1's Use Code 50X marks every other district, including General Business and both industrial-adjacent commercial zones, as prohibited, so a sexually oriented business cannot open anywhere else in the city.
Warwick Adult Entertainment Zoning and Spacing Rules
Significant RestrictionsWarwick Zoning Ordinance §§ 200.8, Table 1 (Use Code 50X), Footnote (12)
200.8. Adult entertainment. (A)Any commercial establishment where, for any form of consideration, films, motion pictures, video cassettes, slides, or similar photographic reproductions are regularly shown which are characterized by the depiction or description of specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas. This shall also include any commercial establishment which regularly featu...
Massage Establishments
Warwick requires anyone operating a massage, vapor, pool or bath establishment for hire to hold a license from the board of public safety first. The board writes the operating rules and sets license fees under City Code Chapter 38.
Warwick Massage Establishment License
Significant RestrictionsWarwick City Code § 38-1
(a)No person, firm or corporation shall practice or conduct an establishment for giving of massage, vapor, pool or other baths for hire, reward or compensation, nor shall any person, firm or corporation advise or hold himself/herself, itself or themselves out as being engaged in the business of massage or the giving of said baths in the city without receiving a license therefor from the board o...
Tobacco Retail License
Retailers selling, giving away, or keeping tobacco products for sale in Warwick must hold a tobacco dealer's license from the board of public safety under City Code § 10-23, and selling without one draws a $250.00 fine. Licenses run three years, expire every February, and license holders face compliance checks at least twice a year enforced by the police department under § 10-26.
Warwick Tobacco Dealer's License
Significant RestrictionsCity Code §§ 10-23, 10-26
It shall be unlawful to sell or offer for sale at retail, to give away, deliver or to keep with the intention of selling at retail, giving away or delivering tobacco products within the city without having first obtained a tobacco dealer's license pursuant to this article. Such license shall be in addition to any other license required by state and/or federal law. Failure to obtain a license sh...
Secondhand Dealers
Anyone buying, selling, bartering, or dealing in junk, old metals, or other secondhand articles in Warwick, or running an automobile junkyard, needs a license from the board of public safety under City Code § 32-1. Neighbors within 200 feet of a proposed new location can block the license by filing a written objection under § 32-3, and every license is revocable after a show-cause hearing.
Warwick Secondhand & Junk Dealer License
Significant RestrictionsCity Code §§ 32-1, 32-3; § 18-3
No person shall engage in selling, purchasing, bartering, or dealing in junk, old metals, or any other secondhand articles, or establish, operate or maintain an automobile junkyard, in the city, without first obtaining a license for such purpose from the board of public safety. ... No license required by this chapter shall be granted for any location not lawfully occupied for such purpose at th...
Towing Companies
Warwick lets a property owner have a trespassing vehicle towed from private land without going to court, but only through a state-certificated tower who relocates it to a lot within ten miles and posts its business hours, under Code of Ordinances § 76-305.
Warwick Non-Consent Towing From Private Property
Some RestrictionsWarwick Code of Ordinances § 76-305(a)
(a)The owner or person in control of any parcel of property may cause to be removed from the property vehicles which are trespassing upon the property without the consent of the owner or person in control of the property by retaining in writing a certificated tower to remove the trespassing vehicle and relocate the vehicle to its private impoundment lot; and this procedure may be undertaken and...