Burleson, TX Business Licensing & Operations: Adult Entertainment (2026)

Article IX of Chapter 14 of the Burleson Code of Ordinances regulates sexually oriented businesses, a term defined to include adult arcades, bookstores, cabarets, novelty stores, motels, theaters, video stores, sex parlors, sexual encounter centers and nude modeling studios. Section 14-474(a) makes it an offense to establish, operate or expand one within 1,000 feet of seven listed uses inside the city limits or its extraterritorial jurisdiction: a religious institution; a public or private elementary or secondary school or licensed day-care center; a boundary of a residential district; a public park; a public library; the property line of a lot devoted to a residential use; and another sexually oriented business.

Subsection (b) adds a 500 foot buffer from any right-of-way designated arterial or freeway-controlled access by the City of Burleson Thoroughfare Plan, and subsection (c) bars two such businesses in one building. Subsection (d) measures in a straight line, without regard to intervening structures, from the nearest portion of the building used as part of the premises to the nearest property line of the protected use. Section 14-476 makes it an offense to operate without a valid sexually oriented business license, and other state or city permits do not substitute.

The application goes to the chief of police with a premises diagram, an employee list and a nonrefundable fee from the City of Burleson Fee Schedule; every individual holding a 20 percent or greater interest must sign. For a location not previously licensed, an outdoor sign at least 24 by 36 inches, in English and Spanish, must be posted not later than the sixtieth day before filing (§ 14-477). The chief must approve within 30 days unless a ground in § 14-478(a) applies. Sections 14-474 and 14-475 can be amended only through zoning amendment procedures (§ 14-496).