Bloomington, IN Business Licensing & Operations: Adult Entertainment (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing section
- UDO Section 20.03.030(d)(7)(B)
- Spacing distance
- 500 feet, measured straight-line
- Protected uses
- Worship, schools, day care, parks, library, shelters, homes
- Grandfather clause
- Pre-2007 PUDs in MC, MM, IN
- Display rule
- No visible sexual material from right-of-way
- First-offense fine
- Up to $2,500 under Table 06-3
Summary
In the City of Bloomington, a sexually oriented business cannot locate within five hundred feet of a place of worship, school, day care center, park, library, homeless shelter, another sexually oriented business, or any residential zoning district, under the Unified Development Ordinance's use-specific spacing standard.
(B)Location. A sexually oriented business shall not be located on a property within five hundred feet (measured from the nearest property line of the property from which spacing is required to the nearest wall of the building or tenant space that houses the sexually oriented business use using a straight line, without regard to intervening structures or public rights-of-way) of any of the following:i.Place of worship;ii.School, public or private (preschool, K-12);iii.Day care center, adult or child;iv.Park (including publicly owned multiuse trails);v.Library;vi.Homeless shelter;vii.R1, R2, R3, R4, or RMH zoning district, including any portion of a Planned Unit Development designated for single-family residential use;viii.RM or RH zoning district, including any portion of a Planned Unit Development designated for multifamily residential use; andix.Another sexually oriented business.
Full Breakdown
030(d)(7) of the Unified Development Ordinance (Title 20) regulates sexually oriented businesses as a Commercial use, and Table 03-1 (Allowed Use Table) allows the use only as a Conditional Use or Permitted use in the City's MC, MM, and mixed-industrial-style districts, never in a residential district. The section opens by stating the City's purpose: preventing the concentration of these uses near places where children congregate. 030(d)(7)(B) does the actual work, measuring five hundred feet in a straight line, without regard to intervening structures or public rights-of-way, from the nearest property line of the protected use to the nearest wall of the building or tenant space housing the sexually oriented business.
Nine categories trigger the buffer: a place of worship, a public or private preschool-through-twelfth-grade school, an adult or child day care center, a park including publicly owned multiuse trails, a library, a homeless shelter, any R1, R2, R3, R4, or RMH residential district (including a Planned Unit Development zoned for single-family use), any RM or RH residential district (including a PUD zoned for multifamily use), and any other sexually oriented business. 030(d)(7)(C) treats the use as permitted in a Planned Unit Development created before February 12, 2007 where the underlying zoning was MC, MM, or IN.
Subsection (D) separately bars any exterior display, sign, or show window that lets someone on the right-of-way observe material depicting specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas, regardless of the spacing calculation.
Violations & Fines
Operating a sexually oriented business inside the five-hundred-foot buffer, or displaying prohibited material where it is visible from a right-of-way, is an illegal land use the Planning and Transportation Director can cite under UDO Section 20.06.100(b), carrying up to the $2,500 first-offense civil penalty in Table 06-3 and up to $7,500 for a repeat violation of the same provision within three years under Section 20.06.100(d)(1).
Frequently Asked Questions
How far must a sexually oriented business be from a school in Bloomington?
Can a sexually oriented business locate in a residential zoning district?
Are there any exceptions to the five-hundred-foot buffer?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Bloomington
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