What permits do you need to open a fitness studio in Montgomery County Oh?

Public Swimming Pool / Spa / Special Use Pool License

A gym, health club, hotel gym or fitness studio in Montgomery County with a pool, spa, whirlpool or splash pad needs an annual operating license from Public Health. ORC 3749.04(A) states that 'No person shall operate or maintain a public swimming pool, public spa, or special use pool without a license issued by the licensor having jurisdiction,' and the reach of that is broad: PHDMC describes a licensable water body as 'Any indoor or outdoor structure, chamber, or tank containing a body of water for swimming, diving, or bathing that is intended to be used collectively for swimming, diving, or bathing, and is operated by any person whether as the owner, lessee, operator, licensee, or concessionaire, regardless of usage fees.' Water at a dwelling of no more than three families used only by residents and their non-paying guests is exempted by the same page. A studio without a pool, spa or whirlpool has no pool license to obtain at all. There are two separate steps and two separate agencies, which is a common source of confusion: PHDMC's page states that 'The Ohio Department of Health must approve the swimming pool to operate through a plan review process. Once approved, the operator must submit an application and fee to Public Health. A swimming pool license will then be issued' — so the state does the construction plan review and the county issues and prices the operating license. Timing is statutory: existing operators apply during the month of April and a new pool applies at least thirty days before opening, and PHDMC states that 'Prior to opening and May 1st of each year, an application and fee must be submitted for all public swimming pools.' Building a commercial pool also draws the county's own $750 building permit, listed separately for this jurisdiction, and a pool inside the city of Oakwood is inspected by the Oakwood Health District rather than by PHDMC.

Commercial Pool / Spa Building Permit

Building a commercial pool or spa at a gym, club or hotel in a county-served jurisdiction is a single $750 permit that the schedule says 'Includes up to 5 inspections of building, electric, and/or mechanical,' so the electrical and mechanical work for the pool is bundled rather than billed on the Schedule 1 systems bands. This is the construction side only. Operating the finished pool is a separate annual license from Public Health at $655.00 for the first unit and $430.00 for each additional unit, and before either of those the Ohio Department of Health does its own plan-review approval — Public Health's page states that 'The Ohio Department of Health must approve the swimming pool to operate through a plan review process. Once approved, the operator must submit an application and fee to Public Health.' A fitness studio putting in a whirlpool or splash pad is on the same three-step path as one putting in a lap pool. The building fee comes from the schedule adopted at the county's public meeting of 28 October 2025 after hearings on 21 and 28 October 2025, effective 1 January 2026, whose published PDF still carries a PROPOSED header from drafting. It applies only in the jurisdictions on the county's chart: all nine townships, the cities of Brookville, Huber Heights, Riverside, Trotwood and Union (commercial only), the villages of Farmersville, New Lebanon and Phillipsburg, and WPAFB-PageManor.

Shared with other businesses in Montgomery County Oh

• Food License Late Renewal Penalty — Public Health - Dayton & Montgomery County, Office of Environmental Health, Twenty-five per cent of the local portion of the license fee, added to the total. The PHDMC 2026 Fee Schedule prints the resulting amounts: for a commercial operation under 25,000 sq ft, $61.17, $69.12, $133.70 and $169.97 at risk levels 1 to 4; at 25,000 sq ft and over, $89.16, $93.94, $337.30 and $357.66. A mobile operation carries $61.75 (high risk) or $30.88 (low risk), a pool $143.75 for the first unit and $93.75 for each additional unit, and a body art establishment $75.00., charged once for each licensing period in which the renewal is filed late, alongside the license fee itself. Also required for restaurants, coffee shops, retail stores, childcare centres and food trucks; what it involves is set out on the restaurants page.
• Food Service Operation / Retail Food Establishment License — commercial, under 25,000 sq ft — Public Health - Dayton & Montgomery County, Office of Environmental Health, Per the PHDMC Office of Environmental Health 2026 Fee Schedule, headed 'As of 12/1/2025': Risk Level 1 $272.66, Level 2 $304.48, Level 3 $562.80, Level 4 $707.86. Each total is the local fee ($244.66, $276.48, $534.80, $679.86) plus the $28.00 state fee the licensor collects and transmits to the Treasurer of State. The same schedule prices a vending machine food service operation at $31.86 ($25.86 local plus $6.00 state)., one licensing period, which ORC 3717.01(P) defines as 'the first day of March to the last day of February of the next succeeding year'; a license issued to a new food service operation after the first day of December does not expire until the end of the next licensing period. Also required for restaurants, coffee shops, retail stores and childcare centres; what it involves is set out on the coffee shops page.
• Food Service Plan Review (new construction and remodel) — Public Health - Dayton & Montgomery County, Office of Environmental Health, Per the plan review block of the PHDMC Office of Environmental Health 2026 Fee Schedule, local fees with no state component printed: Micro Market $150.00; under 1,000 square feet $500.00; 1,000-2,499 square feet $600.00; over 2,500 square feet $750.00; consultation or remodelling $100.00 per hour., one review per project; PHDMC requires plans to be submitted 30 days prior to construction. Also required for restaurants, coffee shops, retail stores and childcare centres; what it involves is set out on the coffee shops 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, coffee shops, retail stores, salons and barbers, auto repair shops and veterinary clinics; what it involves is set out on the retail stores page.