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

Mixed Beverage License Tax

Loudoun's Mixed Beverage License Tax is an annual county tax — not a license — on Virginia ABC mixed-beverage licensees located in the county outside any town that imposes an equivalent town tax, under Codified Ordinances Ch. 856 §856.01 (Ord. 15-08, passed December 9, 2015), which taxes 'Persons holding mixed beverage licenses for establishments located within the County and not located within municipalities having a similar tax.' The fee is set by on-site seating capacity: $200 a year for 50-100 seats, $350 for 101-150 seats, $500 for 151 or more seats, and a flat $350 for a private nonprofit club operating an on-site restaurant. Payment is due March 1 annually, with a 10% penalty added after that date. The tax applies only to 'mixed beverages' as Title 4.1 defines them — a drink containing any alcoholic component over 14% ABV — so restaurants and coffee shops serving only wine or beer do not owe it. Code of Va. §4.1-124(A) makes mixed-beverage sales effective by default in every town, county and election district in the Commonwealth unless a local referendum votes to prohibit them, and Loudoun's own Board of Supervisors legislated Ch. 856 on exactly that premise by naming 'mixed beverage licenses for establishments located within the County' — together, the statute and the county's own ordinance are the basis for treating Loudoun as open to licensed mixed-beverage sales.

Temporary Food Establishment Permit

A restaurant or coffee shop operating at a temporary event in Loudoun County needs a Temporary Food Establishment Permit from the Loudoun County Health Department, priced at $40 per event on the Department's current Environmental Health Services Fee Schedule (loudoun.gov/6338/Fee-Schedule), the same page and figure used for the Department's standing Food Establishment Permit. Vendors apply at least 10 calendar days before the event. As with that standing permit, the fee schedule page carries no visible adoption or effective date for this amount, so the $40 figure is recorded here as the Department's currently posted fee rather than tied to a dated ordinance. This permit is separate from the Mobile Food Unit Permit, which applies to a food truck, cart or trailer operating on an ongoing basis rather than at a single event, and is recorded separately for Loudoun County.

Food / Tourist Establishment Plan Review

Before a restaurant or coffee shop in Loudoun County opens, undergoes a remodel, or changes ownership, the Loudoun County Health Department reviews its food-service or tourist-establishment plans for a $40 fee per review, as posted on the Department's current Environmental Health Services Fee Schedule (loudoun.gov/6338/Fee-Schedule). This review is a one-time cost per project, separate from the Food Establishment Permit's annual renewal fee, and must be completed before the Department will issue the operating permit. As with the Department's other posted fees, the fee-schedule page itself carries no visible adoption or effective date for this amount; it is recorded here as the Department's currently posted fee. A pre-operational inspection by the Health Department follows plan approval and precedes the business opening to the public.

Shared with other businesses in Loudoun County

• Food Establishment Permit — Loudoun County Health Department, Environmental Health Services, $40 a year, per food establishment, as posted on the Department's current fee schedule, Annual. Also required for restaurants; what it involves is set out on the restaurants page.
• Fire Marshal Operational Permit — Loudoun County Fire Marshal's Office, A permit is required for designated occupancy classifications, including 'Repair Garages and service stations' and places of assembly with an occupancy of 50 or more, under the Virginia Statewide Fire Prevention Code, adopted by Loudoun County Codified Ordinances Ch. 1602. No fee amount for this permit is published on the Fire Marshal's page, in Chapter 1602's text, or in the Building and Development fee schedule, which covers only Uniform Statewide Building Code permits rather than Fire Prevention Code operational permits. Contact the Loudoun County Fire Marshal's Office for the current fee amount., not stated in any published county source. Also required for restaurants, fitness studios and auto repair shops; what it involves is set out on the auto repair shops page.
• BPOL Tax — Tiered Rate Above $200,000 Gross Receipts — Loudoun County Commissioner of the Revenue, Business Tax Division, Above $200,000 in annual gross receipts, the BPOL tax is charged per $100 of gross receipts by classification, as posted on the Commissioner of the Revenue's current rate table: Retail Merchant $0.17 (retail-store, and over-the-counter sales at a coffee shop or restaurant); Business Service $0.17 (service-classified business activity, including off-site catering); Personal Service $0.23 (salon, see the separate salon BPOL record); Professional Services $0.33 (veterinary, Ch. 840.01(u) names 'veterinarians' explicitly); Repair Service $0.16 (auto-repair); and Contractors (and Contracting/Developers) $0.13. Every one of these posted rates sits at or under the statewide caps the General Assembly sets in Code of Va. §58.1-3706 (20 cents retail, 36 cents repair/personal/business services, 58 cents financial/real estate/professional services, 16 cents contracting). Fitness-studio's applicable classification and rate are not published in Ch. 840's definitions, the live rate table, the full 90-item statewide classification list at 23VAC10-500-500, or the county's own taxpayer guide — Personal Service ($0.23), Business Service ($0.17) and Amusements ($0.21) are each plausible candidates with no ruling or guide distinguishing among them, so no cents figure for fitness-studio is published here; a fitness studio should confirm its specific classification with the Commissioner of the Revenue's Business Tax Division, 703-777-0260., Annual; filing and payment due March 1. Also required for restaurants, retail stores, veterinary clinics, auto repair shops, contractors and trades and salons and barbers; what it involves is set out on the auto repair shops page.
• Food Establishment Permit — Virginia Department of Health, Division of Food and Environmental Services, $40 a year; a new establishment also pays $40 for plan review, annual — no more than twelve months from issue. Also required for restaurants and food trucks; what it involves is set out on the restaurants page.
• Certified Food Protection Manager — Virginia Department of Health, Division of Food and Environmental Services, No fee, no state-set period — the certifying programme sets its own. Also required for restaurants and food trucks; what it involves is set out on the restaurants page.