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

Food License Late Renewal Penalty

Renewing a Montgomery County food license after the 1 March deadline costs a quarter more, and the size of the penalty is statutory rather than local: ORC 3717.43(D) provides that 'The amount of the penalty shall be twenty-five per cent of the renewal fee.' Public Health applies it to the local portion of each fee and prints the resulting figure in its own penalty column on the 2026 Fee Schedule, so a risk level 4 restaurant under 25,000 square feet that renews late pays $877.83 in total rather than $707.86, and a large risk level 3 grocery pays $1,714.50 rather than $1,377.20. PHDMC's programme page fixes the deadline for everyone at the same date — 'FSO and RFE licenses must be renewed by March 1st of each year. Regardless of when the application is obtained, it must be renewed by March 1st' — which means an operation that opened in October still renews the following March and is late from 2 March. Mobile and seasonal operators follow a different timetable under the same statute: ORC 3717.43(D) has them submit the renewal application before commencing operation in a new licensing period rather than by 1 March. Temporary licenses are not renewable at all, so no penalty attaches to them.

Manager (Level 2) Certification in Food Protection

A higher-risk food business in Montgomery County needs a certified manager as well as a certified person in charge. Public Health states the rule plainly: 'Each Risk Level III and IV food operation needs to have at least one employee that has supervisory and management responsibility and the authority to direct and control food preparation and service to have the manager certification (level 2) in food protection.' Its own course is 'a two day class of instruction' satisfying 'OAC 3717-1-02.4 and OAC 3701-21-25', taught with ServSafe materials and examination, and priced at $175.00 a head on the 2026 Fee Schedule. In practice this catches full-service restaurants, most delis and prepared-food counters in grocery stores, and any operation doing specialised processes — the same operations Public Health inspects most often, at 'at least 2 standard inspections' a licensing period for level III and 'at least 2 standard inspections and 2 critical control point inspections or process reviews' for level IV. The certification is separate from and additional to the three-hour Person In Charge certification, which is required per shift at every risk level. Certification obtained through another approved provider satisfies the same administrative rules; the fee here is the price of Public Health's own class.

Type I Exhaust Hood / Paint Spray Booth Permit (mechanical)

Line M.2 of the county's building fee schedule charges $400 per hood, with three inspections, for Type I exhaust hoods and paint spray booths — the schedule describes it as being 'For hoods that require fire suppression,' with a hood defined as 'that served by a single exhaust fan.' It is the mechanical permit for the hood itself, and it stacks with the $250 suppression system permit on line B.6 rather than replacing it, so a restaurant putting in one suppressed cooking hood pays $650 between the two, and a body shop's spray booth is treated identically. A kitchen with two exhaust fans pays each line twice. A hood that does not require fire suppression is a Type II hood, priced at $250 on line M.3 and listed separately for this jurisdiction. All three lines come from the schedule the Board of County Commissioners adopted at its public meeting of 28 October 2025, after public hearings on 21 and 28 October 2025, effective 1 January 2026, as the county's own news releases of 17 November and 31 December 2025 state; the published PDF's page header still reads PROPOSED from the drafting stage. The permit applies in the jurisdictions the county serves — all nine townships, the cities of Brookville, Huber Heights, Riverside, Trotwood and Union (commercial work only), the villages of Farmersville, New Lebanon and Phillipsburg, and WPAFB-PageManor.

Commercial Footing and Foundation Permit

A contractor who wants to start footings and foundations while the full building plans are still in review takes this $500 permit, which carries three inspections and, as the schedule states, 'Does not include slabs.' It is an early-start permit rather than a substitute for the main construction permit: the Schedule 1 area-banded commercial building permit still applies to the building itself, so a 6,000 square foot new build is $500 here plus $2,200 on Schedule 1 plus $600 on the sprinkler, alarm, mechanical and electrical band. The figure comes from the fee schedule the county adopted at its public meeting of 28 October 2025, after public hearings on 21 and 28 October 2025, effective 1 January 2026, as its own news releases of 17 November and 31 December 2025 state; the published PDF's page header still reads PROPOSED from the drafting stage. As with every county building line, it reaches only the jurisdictions on the county's jurisdictional chart — all nine townships, the cities of Brookville, Huber Heights, Riverside, Trotwood and Union (commercial work only), the villages of Farmersville, New Lebanon and Phillipsburg, and WPAFB-PageManor — and the county's FAQ records that 'Effective January 10, 2023, Montgomery County will no longer perform building services for the City of Clayton.'

Food Service Operation License

There is no single Ohio restaurant license fee. The state's share is fixed by rule at $28 for a commercial food service operation of any size or risk level, $14 non-commercial and $6 per vending machine location; the rest is set by whichever of roughly a hundred and ten local boards of health licenses your address. Under rule 3701-21-02 the license is issued by the local board of health; the Department of Health approves those boards and binds them to a uniform method, so every district's schedule has the same shape: four risk levels by two floor-area bands, commercial or non-commercial, with non-commercial fixed at exactly half of commercial. Each district must run an annual cost analysis and hold a public hearing before changing its figure. Renewal is due by 1 March and a late application costs a further 25 per cent. Only the vending machine fee is capped against inflation; restaurant and mobile fees are not.

Shared with other businesses in Montgomery County Oh

• Retail Dealer's Cigarette License — Montgomery County Auditor, Licensing Division, $125 a year, for each physical place where cigarettes are sold at retail — a state-set fee collected by the county Auditor, prorated when the application is filed after 1 June but never below $25; a duplicate license is $5 and a transfer to another place of business in the same county is $5, one year commencing on the first day of June, per ORC 5743.15(B)(2); the Auditor's own renewal window runs annually between the first Monday in May and the fourth Monday in May, and a license bought after the fourth Monday in May is prorated. Also required for retail stores, coffee shops and food trucks; what it involves is set out on the food trucks page.
• Food Service Operation / Retail Food Establishment License — commercial, over 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 $384.64, Level 2 $403.74, Level 3 $1,377.20, Level 4 $1,458.64. Each total is the local fee ($356.64, $375.74, $1,349.20, $1,430.64) plus the $28.00 state fee the licensor collects and transmits to the Treasurer of State., one licensing period, 1 March to the last day of February, per ORC 3717.01(P); 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 retail stores and coffee shops; what it involves is set out on the coffee shops page.
• Mobile Food Service Operation / Mobile Retail Food Establishment License — Public Health - Dayton & Montgomery County, Office of Environmental Health, Per the PHDMC Office of Environmental Health 2026 Fee Schedule: high risk $275.00 ($247.00 local plus $28.00 state) and low risk $151.50 ($123.50 local plus $28.00 state). A late renewal adds 25 per cent of the local fee — $61.75 high risk, $30.88 low risk., one licensing period; ORC 3717.43(D) has a mobile or seasonal operator submit the renewal application before commencing operation in a new licensing period rather than by the 1 March date that applies to fixed premises. Also required for food trucks and coffee shops; what it involves is set out on the coffee shops 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 coffee shops, retail stores, childcare centres and fitness studios; what it involves is set out on the coffee shops page.
• Temporary Food Service Operation / Temporary Food Establishment License — Public Health - Dayton & Montgomery County, Office of Environmental Health, $60 per event, for a commercial temporary operation, as printed on the PHDMC Office of Environmental Health 2026 Fee Schedule; a non-commercial operator pays $30.00, and the schedule's state-fee column is blank on both lines, five consecutive days at the same address at the same event; ORC 3717.43(E)(1) allows a licensor to issue not more than ten temporary licenses per licensing period to the same person or government entity, and only one license for each particular event, and ORC 3717.43(D) makes temporary licenses non-renewable. Also required for food trucks, coffee shops and retail stores; what it involves is set out on the food trucks 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 coffee shops, retail stores, childcare centres and fitness studios; what it involves is set out on the coffee shops page.
• Person In Charge (PIC) Certification in Food Protection — Public Health - Dayton & Montgomery County, Office of Environmental Health, $35 per person, for the three-hour course, as printed on the PHDMC Office of Environmental Health 2026 Fee Schedule; the line carries no state fee and no penalty, a certification rather than a license; the course is three hours and satisfies OAC 3701-21-25. Also required for coffee shops, food trucks, retail stores and childcare centres; what it involves is set out on the retail stores page.
• Hood Suppression System Permit (kitchen hood, paint booth) — Montgomery County Building Regulations, $250 per hood, including one inspection (line B.6); the schedule states that the 'Fee is per hood, which is defined as that served by a single exhaust fan', per permit, per project. Also required for coffee shops and auto repair shops; what it involves is set out on the coffee shops page.
• Type II Exhaust Hood Permit (mechanical) — Montgomery County Building Regulations, $250 per hood, including one inspection (line M.3); the schedule states the line is 'For hoods that do not require fire suppression', per permit, per project. Also required for coffee shops and retail stores; what it involves is set out on the retail stores page.
• Commercial Demolition Permit — Montgomery County Building Regulations, $350 per permit, including two inspections (line B.11), for complete removal including slabs, foundations and footings, per permit, per project. Also required for contractors and trades, retail stores and auto repair shops; what it involves is set out on the auto repair shops page.
• Temporary Tent or Structure Permit — Montgomery County Building Regulations, $225 per permit for one tent, including one inspection (line B.12); each additional tent at the same address is $25, per permit, for the temporary installation. Also required for retail stores, food trucks and coffee shops; what it involves is set out on the food trucks page.
• Vendor's License — Ohio Department of Taxation, $50 one-time, per fixed location, no renewal — stays in effect until cancelled. Also required for coffee shops, retail stores, salons and barbers, fitness studios, auto repair shops and veterinary clinics; what it involves is set out on the retail stores page.
• Manager Certification in Food Protection — Ohio Department of Health, Food Safety Program, No fee, not stated by the Ohio Department of Health. Also required for coffee shops and food trucks; what it involves is set out on the coffee shops page.