Lake County, FL Business Licensing & Operations: Adult Entertainment (2026)

Sec. 3-28 requires a county manager license before an adult bookstore, adult theater, adult performance establishment, escort service, or physical contact parlor can open, and limits each establishment to a single classification. Land Development Regulation Sec. 01 layers on a locational test: the property must be zoned C-2 or CP with an approved conditional use permit, and it cannot open, operate, or expand within 1,500 feet of a preexisting religious institution, school, residential zoning district, residential lot line, or park, measured property line to property line under Sec.

02. Growing the floor area by more than 10 percent counts as an enlargement that triggers the same distance and zoning review. Applicants file a sworn application with the county manager (Sec. 3-29) disclosing ownership, any adult-entertainment license suspensions or revocations in the past, criminal convictions in the past five years, a scaled site plan, and a photograph and driver's license or Social Security number; the county manager must grant or deny within 30 days, and an application left undecided past that window lets the applicant begin operating pending a later denial.

Licenses run October 1 through September 30 and carry a flat $750 annual fee for most classifications, while adult theaters pay per booth, per seat, or per outdoor parking space (Sec. 3-33). A license may be suspended or revoked for cause under Sec. 3-36 through 3-37, and any denial or revocation decision can be appealed directly to the circuit court as a matter of right under Sec. 3-31(d).