Cheektowaga, NY Business Licensing & Operations: Adult Entertainment (2026)

Section 260-37A(1)(h) of the Zoning Code regulates 'adult uses' as part of the M2 General Manufacturing District, defining the category to include adult bookstore, adult cabaret, adult entertainment establishment, adult motion-picture theater, massage establishment and steam bath establishment. The Town states its purpose is to curb secondary effects like traffic, loitering, crime, and declining property values from concentrated adult uses. Substantively, § 260-37A(1)(h)[3] bars any adult use within 1,500 feet of another existing adult use, within 1,500 feet of any residentially zoned district (including senior housing, condos and assisted living), and within 1,500 feet of a preexisting school, place of worship, day-care center, park, playground, restaurant with outdoor seating, hotel, motel, theater or amusement enterprise; it also confines adult uses exclusively to the M2 district and caps each lot at one such use.

Beyond zoning, § 260-37A(1)(h)[4] imposes a registration requirement: no adult use may operate without a certificate of registration filed with the Town Clerk disclosing the premises address, owner and beneficial-owner information, the business name, the date the use began, and a copy of any lease, with a $50 processing fee and mandatory 30-day updates for any change in the filed information. The certificate must be displayed on premises, is non-transferable, and a knowingly false statement is grounds for rejection, suspension or revocation. Section 260-37A(1)(h)[6] gives existing nonconforming adult uses only one year from the effective date to terminate or relocate into compliance.