What permits do you need to open a retail store in Pasadena?

Fire and Life Safety Operating Permit — Assembly Occupancy

$250 for an occupant load of 1 to 99, $350 for 99 to 299, and $500 for 300 or more — an annual, recurring cost that catches every restaurant, bar, gym and event space in the city. Most Texas cities inspect assembly occupancies without charging a standing permit fee, so this is a real difference in the cost of operating in Pasadena rather than a paperwork difference. An occupant load evaluation, if you need the number established, is $100.

Food Establishment Permit

$260 low risk, $360 medium, $460 high, with the risk category set by health department staff rather than declared by the applicant. The permit is non-transferable and non-refundable, and it remains the property of the City of Pasadena Health Department — it is revoked, not surrendered, if the establishment stops complying. Sec. 15-22 makes it unlawful to construct, operate or maintain a food establishment in the city without one, so the offence covers building the kitchen as well as running it. A late renewal adds $100.

Temporary Food Establishment Permit

$52 for 1 to 14 days, non-transferable and non-refundable — the same figure the Texas DSHS standard schedule uses, and the same as Arlington and Waco charge, which makes temporary food one of the few genuinely uniform fees in the state. The application restricts the permit to the foods listed on it, prohibits anything prepared in a home kitchen, and requires all food to be prepared on site or at an approved food service facility.

Fire and Life Safety Operating Permit — Multi-Family, Hotel or Motel

$200 for 3 to 20 dwelling units and $400 for 21 or more. Flat above 21 units, so a 24-unit motel and a 300-unit apartment complex pay the same — which makes this proportionally expensive for a small property and cheap for a large one.

Commercial Fence Permit

$100 per 1,000 linear feet for a commercial fence, but $100 per 500 feet — double the rate — for a commercial storage lot fence. Repair and replacement in identical materials at the exact same location and elevation is exempt, unless the fence is already in violation of another provision.

Paving and Parking Repair Permit

A $60 minimum covers asphalt patching, potholes, and curb and concrete repair. The trap is the threshold: repairs or improvements at or over 50% of the existing area force the whole lot up to current off-street paving, parking and drainage requirements — landscaping and parking count at existing business locations excepted. Splitting a resurfacing into phases to stay under the line is a decision worth making deliberately rather than discovering.

Shared with other businesses in Pasadena

• Commercial Fire Alarm Permit — City of Pasadena Fire Marshal's Office, $100 per year, renewal $50, one year. Also required for restaurants, coffee shops, fitness studios, auto repair shops, veterinary clinics and childcare centres; what it involves is set out on the veterinary clinics page.
• Commercial Demolition Permit — City of Pasadena Permit Department, $100 per commercial demolition, 30 days, or the duration of the remodel project. Also required for restaurants and contractors and trades; what it involves is set out on the contractors and trades page.
• Electrical Sign Permit — City of Pasadena Permit Department, $40–$75 per circuit, by sign type, not stated in the published fee schedule. Also required for restaurants, coffee shops, salons and barbers, auto repair shops, fitness studios and veterinary clinics; what it involves is set out on the veterinary clinics page.
• Temporary Utility Release — City of Pasadena Permit Department, $50 per 90-day release, up to 90 days, renewable in further 90-day periods. Also required for restaurants and coffee shops; what it involves is set out on the restaurants page.
• Commercial Exhaust Hood Permit — City of Pasadena Permit Department, $50–$100 per hood, by class, not stated in the published fee schedule. Also required for restaurants and coffee shops; what it involves is set out on the coffee shops page.
• Temporary Certificate of Occupancy or Letter of Completion — City of Pasadena Permit Department, $50 per certificate, not stated in the published fee schedule. Also required for restaurants, coffee shops and fitness studios; what it involves is set out on the fitness studios page.
• Temporary Membrane Structure and Tent Permit — City of Pasadena Fire Marshal's Office, $125 per permit, per event. Also required for restaurants, food trucks and coffee shops; what it involves is set out on the coffee shops page.
• High Pile Storage Permit — City of Pasadena Fire Marshal's Office, $475–$700 per year, one year, renewed annually. Also required for contractors and trades; what it involves is set out on the contractors and trades page.
• Commercial Roofing Permit — City of Pasadena Permit Department, $50 per structure, plus the $10 application fee, not stated in the published fee schedule. Also required for restaurants, auto repair shops and contractors and trades; what it involves is set out on the auto repair shops page.
• Swimming Pool License — City of Pasadena Public Health Department, $100 per year, one year. Also required for fitness studios; what it involves is set out on the fitness studios page.