Alpharetta, GA Business Licensing & Operations: Adult Entertainment (2026)

Alpharetta Code of Ordinances Chapter 10, Article III governs adult entertainment establishments. Sec. 10-54 records the mayor and city council's findings that nude entertainment venues tend to generate disorderly conduct, prostitution and drug activity while depressing surrounding property values, and states the article's purpose is to regulate rather than outright ban such businesses. Sec. 10-56 sets operating rules: a valid adult entertainment license is required before an establishment may even be advertised; licensees must file a verified annual report of gross receipts and dancer payments with the city clerk by March 1; no one under 18 may be employed, contracted as a dancer, or admitted; the premises must close between midnight and 9:00 a.m.; no alcohol or controlled substances may be served, sold, distributed, possessed or consumed on site; dance performances are confined to a stage elevated at least two feet, with a ten-foot buffer separating the stage from seated patrons; and full lighting equal to at least 3½ footcandles per square foot is required whenever patrons are present.

Sec. 10-57 requires a designated on-premises operator, and Sec. 10-58 requires every employee, including independent contractors, to hold a city employee permit. Sec. 10-60 sets locational standards: no adult entertainment establishment may sit within 750 feet of residentially zoned land, a church, school, licensed day care, government building, library, civic center, park or playground, or another adult entertainment establishment, and it may not locate outside the industrial (L-I) zoning category, with distances measured property line to property line, 'as the crow flies.'