Avondale, AZ Business Licensing & Operations: Adult Entertainment (2026)

Sec. 28-232(a) makes it a class 1 misdemeanor to operate a sexually oriented business in any zoning district other than General Industrial (A-1), eliminating every commercial or employment district as an option. Subsection (b) then requires a 1,000-foot buffer, measured in a straight line from the SOB's building to the nearest property line of seven listed uses: a church, synagogue, mosque or temple; a public or private school of any kind, including day cares; the boundary of a residential zoning district; a public park or recreational area; the property line of a residentially used lot; an entertainment business oriented toward children or families; and any liquor-licensed premises.

Subsection (c) adds a second 1,000-foot rule between any two sexually oriented businesses, and subsection (d) bars more than one such business, or an expanded floor area for one, within the same building. Political and county boundaries do not interrupt the measurement under subsection (e). A business already operating when Article 10 took effect but landing inside a buffer becomes a legal nonconforming use for up to one year, per subsection (g), and cannot expand. Beyond zoning, Sec. 28-224 requires a sexually oriented business license before opening, plus a separate employee license for every worker, with a completed application including fingerprints, a floor-space diagram and a land surveyor's certificate confirming the buffer distances. The city must approve or deny within 30 days per Sec. 28-225, and the license expires every September 30 and must be renewed.