Apple Valley, MN Business Licensing & Operations: Adult Entertainment (2026)

Apple Valley's zoning rule is § 155.359, adopted by the Apple Valley City Council after it reviewed studies from the Minnesota Attorney General's Office, other cities and its own Urban Affairs Committee. Adult establishments and adult accessory use, high impact, are prohibited in all of the city's use districts except General Business (GB and GB-1), Limited Business (LB and LB-1), Neighborhood Convenience Center (NCC), Retail Business (RB), Regional Shopping Center (SC), Visitor's Business (VB), Planned Development (PD), Limited Industrial (I-1), General Industrial (I-2) and Business Park (BP). In those districts the use is permitted only if the Chapter 110 conditions are met.

The distance rules are 1,000 feet from any other adult establishment or on-sale liquor establishment, including beer and wine sales, 1,000 feet from places of worship, schools, parks, libraries, state-licensed family day care homes, nursing homes, group family day-care homes and child care centers, and 1,000 feet from a residential use district or single-family dwelling. Measurements run in a straight line, without regard to intervening structures, from the nearest lot line of the parcel, or from the nearest point of the actual business premises inside a multiple tenant commercial or industrial center.

Licensing is separate and sits in Chapter 110. Under § 110.15 no one may own or operate an adult establishment or high impact adult accessory use without a current license, and § 110.16 allows licenses only for sites permitted under § 155.359. The City Clerk supplies the application form, which asks among other things for a floor plan, a site plan, a building elevation and an abstractor's certificate covering the subject parcel and all parcels within 1,000 feet. The annual application fee is set in the appendix to Chapter 35, and an investigation outside the state is charged at cost, not to exceed $10,000. The Clerk issues the license unless a listed condition exists, such as an applicant under the age of 21 or a relevant conviction within the past five years. Licenses last one year, and renewal applications are due at least 60 calendar days before expiration. Licensees may not be open before 8:00 a.m. or after 1:00 a.m., and no one under 18 may enter.