Charlotte, NC Business Licensing & Operations: Adult Entertainment (2026)

Article IX classifies sexually oriented businesses in Section 6-468 as adult bookstores, adult live entertainment businesses, adult mini-motion-picture theaters, adult motion-picture theaters and clothing modeling studios. Section 6-469(a) bars operating any of them without a license issued by the chief of police for that specific classification, and the chief will not license two classifications to operate on the same premises. Applications go to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department's Vice and Narcotics Bureau under Section 6-469(b) and must include the applicant's true name, an assumed-name certificate if applicable, the address of the business and its records, real-property owner information if different from the applicant, principal phone number, Social Security numbers and addresses for owners, officers, partners and operators, a federal tax ID with IRS Form 8821, and a floor-space sketch of the premises.

A nonrefundable application and investigation fee is required under Section 6-469(f), and licensees pay an annual license fee set under Section 2-1 (Section 6-471). Before a license issues, Section 6-472 lets Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police inspect the premises. Section 6-470(a) gives the chief 30 days from a completed application to approve or deny it; if the 30th day passes without a denial, the applicant may begin operating pending later notice. Section 6-470(b) lists mandatory denial grounds: an applicant or listed individual under 18, an unpaid fee, refusal of the Section 6-472 inspection, overdue license fees, a currently suspended or revoked license, materially false application information, or a conviction for a sexually oriented crime with fewer than five years elapsed since conviction or release (felony) or fewer than two years (misdemeanor), regardless of any pending appeal. The license must be posted conspicuously near the business entrance under Section 6-470(c).