Bloomfield, NJ Business Licensing & Operations: Adult Entertainment (2026)

Section 315-39B(5) of the Bloomfield Township Code, in the conditional uses article, regulates adult uses. Section 315-6 defines an adult use as any use or business establishment that provides access to media, materials, clothing, paraphernalia or entertainment with content that is sexually explicit, designed to titillate, or prohibited from being viewed by minors by state law or regulation. The Code notes that two such establishments already operate in the Township, and no adult use offering live entertainment is permitted; § 315-37G(5) separately lists adult uses offering live entertainment among the specifically prohibited uses. Every other adult use needs Planning Board authorization and has to meet each standard in the subsection.

Location is the main limit. No person can operate, and no record owner can permit the operation of, an adult use within 1,000 feet of any existing adult use, house of worship, elementary or secondary school, school bus stop, municipal or county playground or place of public resort and recreation, or any area zoned for residential use. Distance is measured in a straight line without regard to intervening structures, from the nearest portion of the building used as part of the adult premises to the nearest property line of the protected use.

Site standards follow. Parking is one space for two fixed seats, one space for every 150 square feet of leasable gross floor area, or one space for every two persons at the maximum occupancy set by the Fire Official, whichever is greater. The business must be screened to impede views of its interior, and all openings, entries, windows and doors must be located, covered or screened to prevent a view from any public place. One sign is allowed, up to 40 square feet, carrying only the name and address. No adult use can share a building with any residential use. Opening, relocating or converting an existing location, even temporarily, counts as establishing an adult use, and the applicant must submit a security plan for the reviewing Board's approval. The subsection does not permit obscene materials as defined in N.J.S.A. 2C:34-2.