What permits do you need to open a coffee shop in Lucas County Oh?

Manager Certification in Food Protection

Ohio charges nothing for this. The Department of Health neither teaches the course nor sells the certificate — it approves providers, who set their own tuition, and the official application form carries no fee field at all. Two tiers exist and the names have changed: what was Level One is now person-in-charge certification, required for at least one person per shift at any operation first licensed after 1 March 2010, and what was Level Two is manager certification, required at risk level III and IV operations and needing an accredited exam as well as the course. Temporary, mobile and low-risk operations are exempt from the manager tier. Ohio has no food handler card in the California sense. The often-repeated claim that the certification lasts five years appears in neither the rule, the statute nor any Department page — the five-year term belongs to the third-party exam certificate, not to the Ohio certification, so no expiry is published here.

Shared with other businesses in Lucas County Oh

• Mobile Food Service Operation License — Toledo-Lucas County Health Department (Lucas County Regional Health District), $150.76–$273.52 a year, per mobile unit — $150.76 low risk and $273.52 high risk on the department's 2026 Program Fees schedule, each total including the $28.00 state amount; mobile plan review and mobile remodel are shown on the same schedule with a dash and carry no charge, annual, on the same licensing period as a permanent food license — the first day of March to the last day of February of the next succeeding year. Also required for food trucks and restaurants; what it involves is set out on the restaurants page.
• Temporary Food License — Toledo-Lucas County Health Department (Lucas County Regional Health District), $164.75 per operator, per event — the whole amount is the health district's fee, with no state component on this line of the 2026 Program Fees schedule, per event; ORC 3717.01(K) defines a temporary food service operation as one operated at an event for not more than five consecutive days. Also required for restaurants, food trucks and retail stores; what it involves is set out on the retail stores page.
• Semi-Public Sewage Disposal System Program Fee — Toledo-Lucas County Health Department (Lucas County Regional Health District), Semi-Public Sewage Disposal Program, commercial tiers by design flow, on the Toledo-Lucas County Health Department's 2026 Program Fees schedule headed 'Effective: January 1, 2026': Commercial Type A, 10,000 to 25,000 gallons per day, $475.00; Commercial Type B, 5,000 to 9,999 GPD, $300.00; Commercial Type C, 1,500 to 4,999 GPD, $260.00; Commercial Type D, 1 to 4,999 GPD, $200.00; Commercial Type E, non-mechanical, $160.00; Commercial Type H, holding tanks, $50.00., annual programme fee, charged for each year the system is in service. Also required for restaurants, childcare centres, veterinary clinics, auto repair shops and retail stores; what it involves is set out on the childcare centres page.
• Food Service Operation / Retail Food Establishment License — Toledo-Lucas County Health Department (Lucas County Regional Health District), Total Fee column of the Toledo-Lucas County Health Department's 2026 Program Fees schedule, headed 'Effective: January 1, 2026'. Commercial, less than 25,000 sq ft: Level 1 $291.94; Level 2 $327.16; Level 3 $613.10; Level 4 $773.68. Commercial, 25,000 sq ft or more: Level 1 $415.90; Level 2 $437.03; Level 3 $1,514.60; Level 4 $1,604.76. Each total is the health district's own license fee plus a $28.00 state amount collected under ORC 3717.45(C)(1) — for example Level 1 under 25,000 sq ft is $263.94 plus $28.00 — as broken out in the department's 2026 Food Program Fee Letter., annual; the licensing period runs from the first day of March to the last day of February of the next succeeding year (ORC 3717.01(P)), except that a license issued to a new food service operation after the first day of December runs to the end of the next succeeding licensing period (ORC 3717.43(C)(1)(a)). Also required for restaurants, retail stores and childcare centres; what it involves is set out on the childcare centres page.
• Liquor Permit — State License with County Notice and Hearing — Board of Lucas County Commissioners, $100 one-time state processing fee paid to the Ohio Division of Liquor Control when a new-permit application is filed, under ORC 4303.26(A) — a state charge, separate from the permit fee itself and from anything Lucas County collects, per application at the state; the county's notice-and-hearing right arises on each new class C or D permit and on each transfer of ownership or location of one where the premises lie outside a municipal corporation. Also required for restaurants, retail stores and food trucks; what it involves is set out on the restaurants page.
• Retail Cigarette Dealer's License — Lucas County Auditor, Licensing Division, $125.00 for each physical place of business, per license year, set by ORC 5743.15(B)(1) and stated on the Lucas County Auditor's own page as 'Cigarette License Renewal Fee: $125.00 per location'. An application filed after the first day of June is proportioned to the remainder of the license year but is never less than $25.00. A duplicate license for one lost, destroyed or defaced is $5.00, and a transfer to another place of business in the same county, with ownership interest and business structure unchanged, is $5.00 paid into the county treasury., one year commencing on the first day of June; applications and renewals are made to the county auditor annually on or before the first day of June. Also required for retail stores and restaurants; what it involves is set out on the retail stores page.
• Food Plan Review and Pre-Licensing Fees — Toledo-Lucas County Health Department (Lucas County Regional Health District), Food Program Plan Review Category of the Toledo-Lucas County Health Department's 2026 Program Fees schedule, headed 'Effective: January 1, 2026': Remodel Plan Review $210.00; Plan Review Class 1 & 2, less than 25,000 sq ft, $315.00; Plan Review Class 3 & 4, less than 25,000 sq ft, $470.00; Plan Review Class 1 to 4 at 25,000 sq ft or more $500.00; Expedited review $1,260.00 in addition to the applicable plan review fee; Prelicense Reinspection $100.00 for each reinspection needed; Reprint of a Level One Certification Card $10.00. The department's 2026 Food Program Fee Letter shows a $0.00 state component on each of these lines., per project — one review per plan submission, with a separate charge for each pre-licensing reinspection required. Also required for restaurants, retail stores and childcare centres; what it involves is set out on the restaurants page.
• Vendor's License — Ohio Department of Taxation, $50 one-time, per fixed location, no renewal — stays in effect until cancelled. Also required for restaurants, retail stores, salons and barbers, fitness studios, auto repair shops and veterinary clinics; what it involves is set out on the retail stores page.
• Food Service Operation License — Ohio Department of Health, Food Safety Program, $28 state fee for a commercial operation ($14 non-commercial, $6 per vending machine location), plus a license fee set independently by the local board of health, 1 March to the last day of February. Also required for restaurants and food trucks; what it involves is set out on the restaurants page.