BUSINESS LICENSES
The City Clerk’s Office is responsible for issuing all business licenses for the City of South Portland. There are numerous types of Business Licenses and many require approvals from City Departments such as: Code Enforcement, Fire Department, Planning Department, Police Department, Public Works, Parks & Recreation Department and Water Resource Protection. Additionally, some of the licenses require approval from the City Council. You may also need to obtain State Licenses. All business licenses require an application fee. All fees, application and license, must be paid on an annual basis. All applications may be obtained from the City Clerk’s Office. You may request them in person, by phone or via email.
If you are a new business, or are thinking of opening a new business in South Portland:
- Review the Guide to Doing Business in South Portland
- You will first want to contact the Planning & Development and Code Enforcement to ensure that your business is properly zoned and to request any necessary permits (Home Occupation, Building or Occupancy Permits).
- You will want to contact the State Licensing Department and find out what, if any, State license(s) will be required.
- You will want to call the City Clerk's office to find out what, if any, City license(s) will be required. Business license applications are available for download here and may be submitted electronically.
Business licensing hours are Monday through Friday 8:00am to 4:30pm, with extended hours on Thursday until 6:30pm. For addition information, please call 207-767-7601 or email kmorrill@southportland.org
Sole Proprietor/Partnership
The State of Maine requires any business that is not registered on the State level to be registered with the Municipality that the business is located in. This is done either as a Sole Proprietor or as a Partnership. This is also referred to as a “Doing Business As” License. The application needs to be notarized, which our office does as part of the registration. An ID is required at the time of registration.
Sole Proprietor/"DBA" Application
Partnership Application
Application to Withdraw from Partnership