Alcohol Sales Establishments
Will your business sell alcohol within the City of Orlando? City ordinance requires every business that sells alcohol for onsite consumption and temporary events to get an administrative permit before staff can sign the State of Florida ABL form.
To apply for that permit, click here.
For outside speakers for temporary events, click here.
After-Midnight Alcohol Sales Permit
If you want to sell alcohol for onsite consumption between the hours of midnight and 2 a.m. in the Downtown Entertainment Area, you will need an After-Midnight Alcohol Sales Permit. For more information, click here.
Surface Parking
If your business is downtown and will provide public parking past 10 p.m., complete the administrative permit application AND provide additional information found here.
Outside Speakers
If your business (citywide) uses outside speakers continuously (at least once a month), complete the administrative permit application AND provide additional information found here.
Processing time will be approximately two to three weeks.
Business Tax Receipt and Certificate of Use
New businesses and those changing use type or ownership require BTRs and COUs.
- Business Tax Receipt: You must pay a tax to operate any business within city limits. A business tax receipt is proof of payment and is required before a business opens. For more information, click here.
- Certificate of Use: A certificate of use states all uses proposed within an establishment. For zoning purposes, the most intense use will be considered the primary use. For building/fire purposes, the establishment must have a life safety plan in city permitting records that matches the intended use. For more information, click here.
Any downtown business which owns or operates a surface parking lot accessible to the public after 10 p.m. requires a Determination per City Code Ch. 61, Part 3H.
Submittal Requirements
- A site plan demonstrating compliance with Chapter 61, Sections 61.303 to 61.309.
- If the Surface Parking Lot is open after dark, a lighting plan demonstrating compliance with Chapter 63, Part 2M.
- A landscaping plan demonstrating compliance with Chapter 61, Part 3B.
- Location of fences or walls (if proposed) on the site plan, which demonstrate compliance with Chapter 58, Part 5B(5).
- An operations plan identifying:
- Contact information for property owner, the operator, and the security company
- Hours of operation
- If the Surface Parking Lot is open after 10 p.m., the provision of security cameras; and
- Existing or proposed signage that includes hours of operation, contact information to report a problem, and towing rules (if applicable).
A Determination is required of any business which uses outdoor speakers continuously (more than once a month). (Sec. 62.506)
Submittal Requirements
- Site plan showing the location of proposed speakers (including the intended locations of any portable speakers).
- A Sound Study/Noise Report to determine if the speakers used at the establishment comply with the city's noise ordinance (Ch. 42). The Sound Study/Noise Report must meet the following qualifications:
- Be prepared by a qualified independent acoustical engineer that is either: (1) licensed as a professional engineer (PE); or (2) has a degree in acoustical engineering from an accredited university/college. The Sound Study/Noise Report shall be on letterhead and signed by the PE preparing the study. If the study is not prepared by a PE, submit the preparer's qualifications.
- Indicate the methodology and equipment used for sound testing
- Indicate the locations tested and results obtained from each location
- Include findings, conclusions and recommendations about steps taken to ensure compliance with city code, including:
- Reorienting the speakers
- Limiting their output
- Installation of an array of smaller speakers
- Installation of acoustical treatments which absorbs or blocks noise
- Other appropriate measures that comply with the limits established by the noise ordinance