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Draper licenses its own businesses. You apply on the city's Online Services Portal, pay a base fee, and renew every year. This guide covers the Draper City fees in the schedule dated July 21, 2026, the home occupation rules, and the phone numbers that get you a person.
If your business has a fixed location in Draper, you need a Draper City commercial license, applied for through the city's Online Services Portal. The base fee is $82 for a full year plus $7 for each additional employee, and the city asks you to allow one week for processing. A home business needs a free Draper home occupation license unless you are under 19 and only work occasionally, or you already hold a business license in Draper or another U.S. city and no conditional use permit is required.
Draper City issues six license types: alcohol, commercial, firework sales, home occupation, solicitor and special event. Most readers want the commercial license, which the city requires for any business with a fixed location in Draper, including temporary outdoor operations. Firework stands get a separate firework sales license instead.
Check the city on your lease or property tax notice, not the city in your mailing address. For how licensing works across Salt Lake County, and the state filings that come first, read our Salt Lake City business license guide. This page covers only Draper.
Out-of-town businesses that work in Draper for a short time, such as a plumber, a contractor or a home health aide based in another city, do not need a Draper license, according to the city's page. A mobile business as Utah state code defines it does need one, unless it already holds a valid Utah government license. Mobile food vendors usually license through the government where their commissary kitchen is.
Landlords have their own rule. A license is required if you rent four or more single-family homes or duplexes in Draper for any length of time, and a building with three or more habitable units always needs one. An accessory dwelling unit does not need a business license, but it does need a permit from the city's Planning division.
Draper takes applications through its Online Services Portal at draper.onlama.com. New users click the yellow Register button and create an account. You only need a registration code if you are renewing an existing license. Once the account is verified, click the Apply card, choose Licenses under the search box, and pick your license type. Each license page lists the paperwork it needs.
When the city emails you an invoice, you can pay in the portal under Your Items, then Pay Fees. You can also mail a check to City Hall at 1020 E. Pioneer Road, marked Attn: Business Licensing, or pay by phone at (801) 576-6501 with your invoice number ready.
The city says to allow one week of processing. After you pay and the relevant city departments approve, the license is emailed to you. You can also print it from Your Items by selecting View, then the Documents tab. Applications time out, so save your progress before you step away from the screen.
These figures come from the Draper City Consolidated Fee Schedule (Resolution 26-37), the PDF linked from the city's business license page, in the version dated July 21, 2026.
A nonprofit pays no license fee, and the home occupation license is free. The schedule also lists charges for alcohol, sexually oriented businesses, mini-storage, service stations and other categories. If your business fits one of those, read its line in the PDF or call the licensing office, because some add a per-unit or per-pump fee.
| License | Fee | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Commercial, base fee (full year) | $82 | Fixed location in Draper |
| Commercial, temporary (180 days or less) | $60 | Reduced-cost option for short operations |
| Each additional employee | $7 | Added to the base fee |
| Individual solicitor | $25 | Plus a $25 ID badge |
| Special event license | $60 | Temporary events with taxable sales |
| Firework sales license | $385 | Indoor or temporary outdoor sales |
| Home occupation license | Free | Per the city's licensing page |
Say a bookkeeping firm opens in a Draper office with three employees besides the owner. The base fee is $82 and the schedule adds $7 for each additional employee, so three more people is $21. That makes $103 for the year. The schedule does not say who counts as the first person on the license, so confirm your employee count with the licensing office before you submit. The invoice the portal sends is the number you pay.
A caterer who cooks in a rented commissary kitchen in another city and delivers into Draper is a different case. The city's page says mobile food vendors usually license through the government where their commissary is. Ask the licensing office which side of that line you are on before you pay anyone.
Draper requires a home occupation license for a business run from a house, and it is free. The city lists two reasons you can skip it: you are under 19 and only work occasionally, or you already hold a business license in Draper or another U.S. city (or work for a licensed company) and no home occupation conditional use permit is required.
The zoning rules are stricter than the license. Draper's home occupation chapter, 9-34 of the city code, sets development standards for a permitted home business. Section 9-34-040 does not allow customers at a permitted home occupation, with an exception for children attending a limited daycare or limited preschool. It also says no vehicles or equipment tied to the business should be on the property unless they would normally be found at a residence, and no business signs on vehicles. A tutor who wants students at the dining table, or a stylist with clients in the garage, is outside the standard.
If you do not meet those standards, the code lets you ask for a conditional use permit for the specific deviation, handled by Planning and Development. The city's checklist lists a $60 home occupation conditional use fee, plus a noticing fee for signs, paper, envelopes and postage that is set at submittal at actual cost. The application needs plans drawn to scale showing property lines and uses within 100 feet, a written description of hours, parking and expected visitors, a statement on how you meet the approval standards in 9-5-080(E), and a list of which 9-34-040 standards you want relaxed. The city says incomplete applications are not accepted or held.
The number printed on the planning checklist is (801) 576-6399. Call before you sign a lease or print business cards with your home address on them. The commercial license page does not say the license waits on a zoning check, so confirm what is allowed at an address with Planning and Development.
Draper licenses are valid for up to one year. Renewal fees are due on or before the anniversary date of the license. The city sends a courtesy reminder that contains your registration code. Log in to the portal, click the yellow Renew icon, finish the form, pay the emailed invoice, and the renewed license arrives by email.
Late renewals cost more. For non-alcohol licenses, the fee schedule adds a 25 percent penalty if you miss the anniversary date, 50 percent at 30 days, 75 percent at 60 days and 100 percent at 90 days. The city's web page lists alcohol penalties with overlapping day ranges, so alcohol licensees should call the office to confirm what applies.
A license does not move with you. If you relocate inside Draper, contact the Business License Official to close the old license, then apply for a new one at the new address on the portal. If you change your business name or owner, it depends on the federal EIN. A new EIN means a new license application. The same EIN means the Owner/Name Change Application on the city's forms site. If your license expires within 60 days, renew in the portal instead, where you can change the name and owner during renewal.
Several state-registered businesses at one address can share one license if every employee is counted on it, only the license holder appears in public signage and listings, and the license description covers everything the businesses do.
The licensing page does not spell out a business inspection process. It links a city help video called How Can I Schedule an Inspection and a Schedule an Inspection page under Building and Renovating. If you are opening a storefront, ask the licensing office which departments need to approve your address before the license can be issued, then book the visit.
Contacts, all from the city's page: the Business License Official is at (801) 576-6530 or [email protected]. Payments go through (801) 576-6501. City Hall is at 1020 E. Pioneer Road, Draper, UT 84020, open Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and the main line is (801) 576-6500.
The city also publishes an All Active Business Licenses spreadsheet, updated monthly, and a Business Directory map. Use them to see which businesses are already licensed near your address before you pick a spot.
Utah has no statewide general business license, so the city license is the one that lets you open the doors. Before you apply, register your LLC, corporation or DBA with the Utah Division of Corporations. If you sell taxable goods, the Tax Commission's Publication 25 says every seller with an established presence in Utah needs a sales tax license, which you apply for on its Taxpayer Access Point. The fees and steps for both are in the state filings section of our Salt Lake City license guide, and they are the same for a Draper business.
A license puts your name on the city's list. It does not put you in front of anyone. Claim a free Google Business Profile with the same name and address you gave Draper, using our Google Business Profile guide. You can also list the business in our Local Directory, which costs $49 a month, and see our Draper city page.
We publish The Salt Lake Valley, a free newsletter that goes to about 2,400 Salt Lake County subscribers, and we sell ads in it, so weigh this with that in mind. The Closer is $149 a month and Neighbor is $179 a month, per our price list as of November 3, 2026. A new Draper shop announcing its opening is one of the things our ad plans are built for. Hiring for the opening? You can post a local job.