Ames, IA Business Licensing & Operations: Adult Entertainment (2026)

Sec. 29.1301, in Article 13's additional-use standards for Ames' Chapter 29 Zoning Ordinance, sets two location tests for any adult entertainment business. The first bars establishment within 1,000 feet of another adult entertainment business, a school, place of worship, public park, public playground, public plaza, or any area zoned for residential use, measured on a direct line from the business's main entrance to the closest point on the other property's line. The second, independent of the first, bars establishment within 200 feet of the public right-of-way of any street the City has designated as an arterial on its Arterial Street Map.

The ordinance defines "establishment" broadly under Sec. 29.1301(2): it covers opening a brand-new business, relocating an existing one, adding adult entertainment activity to another business, converting an existing business location to adult entertainment uses, and any expansion that causes an existing adult entertainment business to occupy more than 50% additional space beyond what it previously occupied. That expansion trigger means an operator already lawfully sited under the spacing rule can still fall out of compliance by growing the footprint of the use. Compliance is checked through the City's zoning and building permit process administered by the Department of Planning and Housing, and the Zoning Enforcement Officer designated under Sec. 29.1600 has authority to withhold or revoke permits and stop work on any site found in violation.