Lancaster County, NE Business Licensing & Operations: Adult Entertainment (2026)

046 confines sexually oriented live entertainment establishments to the county's Industrial ('I') zoning district, and even there the use requires a special permit rather than operating by right, on top of meeting every other applicable federal, state and local regulation. The ordinance sets two distinct separation distances. Such an establishment must sit at least 1,500 feet from any other sexually oriented live entertainment establishment, preventing clustering. It must also sit at least 1,000 feet from a long list of sensitive uses: places of religious assembly, public or private elementary and high schools, residential uses generally, early childhood care facilities, public parks, hospitals, public libraries, public museums, amusement parks, recreation areas or playgrounds that primarily serve people under eighteen, correctional facilities, and state-licensed residential facilities where people live while receiving therapy, counseling or rehabilitation for physical, emotional or mental disease or disability.

Both distances are measured door to door rather than property line to property line, a stricter method that accounts for setbacks and building placement rather than raw lot boundaries. Before the Planning Commission issues the special permit, it must hold a public hearing weighing the proposed use's effect on the character of the neighborhood, traffic conditions, public utility facilities, and other matters touching public health, safety and general welfare, the same review standard applied to every Article 13 special permit.