Business Licensing & Operations in Ohio (2026)

Akron confines sexually oriented businesses to Class U3 or U4 districts and keeps them 500 feet from any U1 or U2…

Cincinnati zoning keeps sexually oriented businesses at least 1,000 feet from residential district lines, from each…

Cleveland bans adult bookstores, theaters, cabarets and similar adult entertainment uses within 1,000 feet of a…

Columbus confines adult entertainment establishments and adult stores to M-Manufacturing districts and makes them keep…

Dayton confines sexually oriented businesses to I-1 and I-2 industrial districts as a conditional use, with strict…

Franklin County allows adult entertainment only in the Community Commercial district, and bars it within 500 feet of a…

Medina requires every sexually oriented business to hold a city-issued "Sexually Oriented Business License" and…

Parma requires anyone operating an adult arcade, bookstore, cabaret, theater, nude model studio, sex store, or sexual…

Toledo bars new sexually-oriented businesses within 500 feet of homes, schools, churches, parks or day cares, and…

Toledo zoning flatly prohibits a 'massage parlor' in every zoning district in the city. The ban turns on state…

Running a massage establishment in Akron requires a Mayor-issued permit approved by the Health Officer before opening…

Cincinnati requires separate city licenses for every massage establishment and massage practitioner under Municipal…

Cleveland requires a $200 permit approved by the Health Officer before operating a massage establishment, plus a…

Parma requires a separate City-issued business license for every massage establishment location plus an individual…

Summit County Code Chapter 749 requires a permit from the County Auditor, issued only after Health Officer approval…

Columbus requires massage and bath establishments to register with the License Section, pay a $150 fee, and renew every…

Parma requires anyone operating a tattoo or body-piercing business to hold an annual license from the Safety Director…

Cincinnati requires anyone operating a tattoo, piercing, or permanent-cosmetics business to get a Certificate of…

Cleveland requires a Department of Public Health license to operate a tattoo or body piercing establishment, under…

Toledo requires tattoo parlors and body piercing studios to register with the Director of Health under Municipal Code…

Ohio requires retailers selling vapor products to hold a state license and comply with age-verification, packaging, and…

Akron requires every smoke shop to hold a Vape Products License before selling vape or smoke shop products, issued by…

Cincinnati treats vape shops the same as any tobacco retailer: Municipal Code Section 609-9 bars selling tobacco…

Cleveland requires every tobacco retailer, including vape and e-cigarette sellers, to hold an annual tobacco retail…

Parma restricts smoke and vape shops, defined in the Zoning Code as any retailer devoting twenty percent or more of its…

Toledo Municipal Code 537.28 limits sale of flavored vapor products and flavored e-cigarettes to "Retail Vapor Product…

Vape shops and any retailer selling tobacco products in Columbus must hold a valid license from the Columbus Board of…

Anyone buying or reselling used goods in Akron, from jewelry and electronics to bicycles and tools, needs a City…

Parma requires anyone buying or selling used goods, from electronics to furniture, to license as a secondhand dealer…

Anyone buying or reselling used goods in Toledo more than seven days a year needs a $125 second-hand dealer license…

Cincinnati requires anyone acting as a second-hand dealer or junk dealer to obtain a license from the city manager…

Cleveland requires anyone buying, selling or exchanging secondhand articles to hold a $125 annual license, post a sign…

Columbus requires secondhand dealers to post a sign, log every purchase in a numbered record book, and file daily…

Dayton secondhand dealers must post signage, keep a bound transaction record with seller ID, and hold every purchased…

Summit County Code Chapter 741 requires a license from the Office of Consumer Affairs before anyone regularly buys…

Akron bars anyone from operating a pawnshop without a City license. City Code § 111.490 defines a "pawnbroker" as…

Cleveland requires every pawnbroker to hold an annual license from the Commissioner of Assessments and Licenses, post a…

Parma requires every pawnbroker to hold an annual license from the Director of Public Safety before lending against…

Cincinnati limits when a pawn shop or loan office can be open and lending against pawned goods, under City Code §…

Cincinnati's Zoning Code caps every home occupation at the personal-service, fine-arts, craft or limited-office work…

Toledo's Zoning Code flatly prohibits paid motor vehicle repair as a home occupation. Any maintenance, repair or…

Dayton has no dedicated home-auto-repair rule, but its home occupation standards bar outdoor equipment storage…

Akron licenses a single towing company for each of six police towing districts and holds them to strict service…

Tow truck operators who want onto Cincinnati's police rotation list for disabled and illegally parked vehicles must…

Every tow truck operating for compensation in Cleveland must carry a city-issued owner's license under Codified…

Columbus makes it a crime to tow a vehicle off private property unless the removal conforms with the legal requirements…

Toledo requires every police-ordered towing company to hold a City towing license before responding to a call. Section…

Parma keeps a rotation list of approved garages for police-ordered tows: the nearest listed garage is called first…