11 published records
Business licenses and permits in Montgomery County, Maryland
Montgomery County, Maryland, seat Rockville, splits business licensing across three distinct sources of authority. The general 'trader's license' is a state license (Md. Bus. Reg. Art. Title 17, Subtitle 18), merely administered locally by the Clerk of the Circuit Court for Montgomery County rather than created by any county ordinance. Food service facility licensing runs through the county's own DHHS Licensure & Regulatory Services under Montgomery County Code Chapter 15. Alcohol licensing runs through Alcohol Beverage Services (ABS, renamed from the Department of Liquor Control effective July 1, 2019) and the Board of License Commissioners for Montgomery County, both created by a Montgomery-County-only subtitle of the Maryland Alcoholic Beverages and Cannabis Article rather than by the county's own Code. Motor-vehicle-repair and towing businesses register under Montgomery County Code Chapter 31A at employee-count-based fees. The county contains 19 incorporated municipalities — Barnesville, Brookeville, Chevy Chase (Town), Chevy Chase View, Chevy Chase Village, Village of Chevy Chase Section 3, Village of Chevy Chase Section 5, Gaithersburg, Garrett Park, Glen Echo, Kensington, Laytonsville, Martin's Additions, North Chevy Chase, Poolesville, Rockville (the county seat), Somerset, Takoma Park, and Washington Grove — each of which runs its own separate business-license, building and zoning regime that stacks on top of everything recorded for Montgomery County; Gaithersburg's own figures are recorded separately in its own site spec. Bethesda, Silver Spring, Wheaton and Germantown are unincorporated census-designated places governed directly by the county regime below, with no separate municipal government of their own.
What are you opening in Montgomery County?
- RestaurantsFull-service restaurants carry the densest permit load of any small business: food, fire, occupancy, waste, and usually alcohol.See the full permit list
- Coffee shopsCafés are permitted as food service establishments even where no cooking happens, and the plan review step catches most operators by surprise.See the full permit list
- Retail storesRetail is the lightest common permit load, but the sales tax permit and the certificate of occupancy are non-negotiable in every jurisdiction.See the full permit list
- Salons and barbersPersonal care is licensed at state board level as well as locally, so the shop license and the practitioner licenses are separate obligations.See the full permit list
- Food trucksMobile food is the one category with no certificate of occupancy — but it gains a commissary agreement, and the unit itself is inspected rather than the premises.See the full permit list
- Auto repair shopsOrdinary commercial permitting plus an environmental layer: waste oil, solvents and stormwater are each registered separately.See the full permit list
Who issues business permits in Montgomery County?
Permitting in Montgomery County is split across 4 agencies we hold records for, with tax registration handled at state level. No single office issues everything, which is why an opening usually means filing in several places rather than one.
Montgomery County issuing agencies
- Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services, Licensure & Regulatory ServicesLicenses food service facilities and itinerant (mobile/event) food service facilities under Montgomery County Code Chapter 15 · Certifies Food Service Managers (CFSM) and requires CFSM control of a licensed facility under Code §15-8(b)(2)5 permits
- Montgomery County Department of Permitting ServicesAdministers the Montgomery County Code Chapter 31A motor-vehicle-repair and towing-business registration program, consistent with where the county's permitting functions sit today; the regulation's own administrative-history note still names its originating department as the now-folded-in 'Housing and Community Affairs'3 permits
- Montgomery County Alcohol Beverage Services (ABS) and the Board of License Commissioners for Montgomery CountyABS acts as the county's sole wholesale distributor of beer, wine and spirits to licensed businesses and runs county-owned retail stores, under a Montgomery-County-only subtitle of the Maryland Alcoholic Beverages and Cannabis Article; renamed from the Department of Liquor Control effective July 1, 2019 (2019 Md. Laws Ch. 673, HB616) · The Board of License Commissioners for Montgomery County holds hearings and issues individual establishment alcohol licenses, including the Class B and beauty-salon/barbershop licenses recorded for Montgomery County2 permits
- Clerk of the Circuit Court for Montgomery County, License DepartmentIssues the trader's license, a state license under Md. Bus. Reg. Art. Title 17, Subtitle 18, administered locally through the Circuit Court Clerk's office rather than created by a Montgomery County ordinance1 permit
Other Maryland jurisdictions we cover
Commercial Compliance Hub publishes information, not legal advice. Requirements change — confirm anything you rely on with the issuing agency before you file.