Mesa County, CO Business Licensing & Operations: Adult Entertainment (2026)
Key Facts
- Buffer 1
- 1,000 ft from another adult business
- Buffer 2
- 1,000 ft from church/school/park/public bldg
- Buffer 3
- 1,000 ft from Rural/Urban Residential zones
- Governing section
- LDC § 6.02.A
- Definition section
- LDC § 12.01
- Applies to
- Unincorporated Mesa County only
Summary
Section 6.02.A of Mesa County's Land Development Code bars any adult entertainment establishment from locating within 1,000 feet of another adult entertainment establishment, within 1,000 feet of a religious institution, school, park, playground or public building, or within 1,000 feet of any Rural or Urban Residential zoning district.
All adult entertainment establishments shall be subject to the following standards: 1. No entertainment establishment shall be allowed within one thousand (1,000) feet of a lot or parcel occupied by another adult entertainment establishment; 2. No entertainment establishment shall be allowed within one thousand (1,000) feet of a lot or parcel occupied by any religious institution, school, park, playground or public building; and 3. No entertainment establishment shall be allowed within one thousand (1,000) feet of any Rural or Urban Residential Zoning District.
Full Breakdown
A sets three separate 1,000-foot standards for adult entertainment: no such establishment may locate within 1,000 feet of a lot occupied by another adult entertainment establishment; within 1,000 feet of a lot occupied by any religious institution, school, park, playground or public building; or within 1,000 feet of any Rural or Urban Residential Zoning District. 01, defines "Adult Entertainment Establishment" as any establishment that conducts, as a principal use or as a significant or substantial adjunct use, the sale, rental, display or other offering of live entertainment, dancing or material distinguished by its emphasis on Specified Sexual Activities or Specified Anatomical Areas, expressly naming adult bookstores, adult hotels or motels, adult motion picture theaters, adult restaurants and adult cabarets.
A's triple buffer must independently be satisfied before the Director can approve a site plan. Because Rural and Urban Residential districts are excluded outright by the third standard, and any lot within 1,000 feet of a church, school, park, playground or public building is excluded by the second, the combined effect concentrates adult entertainment into a narrow band of nonresidential land well removed from homes and institutional uses, with no variance procedure named in this section.
Violations & Fines
Locating or operating an adult entertainment establishment inside any of the three 1,000-foot buffers, or in a district where Table 6-1 does not list the use, is a Section 11.02 violation. Mesa County can deny or revoke the site plan or permit under Section 11.04, and Section 11.03 makes every day of continued unpermitted operation a new, separate violation.
Frequently Asked Questions
What qualifies as an 'adult entertainment establishment' under Mesa County's code?
Can an adult entertainment business locate near a residential neighborhood?
Does the county have to allow adult entertainment somewhere?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Mesa County
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