Amherst, NY Business Licensing & Operations: Adult Entertainment (2026)

L. No. 9-2008 after a 2005 secondary-effects study by planning consultants Kelly and Cooper, and amended the spacing standards again in 2019. Under § 6-6-2A, sexually oriented media stores, sex shops, and other covered businesses are permitted uses only in the districts where they are listed and only if they satisfy the locational standards: no more than one covered use per lot; none within 500 feet of a lot zoned R-R, S-A, R-1, R-2, R-3, CR-3A, TR-3, R-4, MFR-4A, MFR-5, MFR-6, MFR-7 or MHR-8; none within 1,000 feet of a public or private school, religious institution, day-care center, public park or playground, or public library; and none within 1,000 feet of another sexually oriented business.

Aside from permitted signs, landscaping and parking, the use must be conducted entirely inside an enclosed building. Beyond zoning location, § 6-6-3 requires a certificate of registration filed with the Town Clerk before the business may open, listing the owners, the nature of the use, a floor plan, and any criminal convictions; the Town Clerk, Chief of Police and Commissioner of Building review the application against § 6-6-5 within a set 21-business-day timeline, and registrations run annually, expiring September 30. A registration can be revoked under § 6-6-7 if a principal is later convicted of a disqualifying offense, with the operator entitled to appeal to the Zoning Board of Appeals under § 8-13.