Costa Mesa, CA Business Licensing & Operations: Adult Entertainment (2026)

Title 9, Chapter IV requires every sexually-oriented business, defined to include adult bookstores, cabarets, arcades, theaters and modeling studios, to hold a sexually-oriented business license issued for the specific location under Section 9-451, plus a separate performer's license for anyone performing live shows involving specified anatomical areas or sexual activities. A license runs for one year and must be renewed at least 30 days before the anniversary date under Section 9-455; selling the business, changing its name, or moving it voids the license immediately and forces a new application under Sections 9-453 and 9-454.

Zoning is handled separately in Title 13, Article 1 of Chapter IX. Section 13-132 confines these businesses to the CL, C1, C2, C1-S or PDC zones and layers on distance rules: no closer than 500 feet to any residentially zoned area, no closer than 1,000 feet to a school, public park or religious institution, and, outside the PDC zone, no closer than 1,000 feet to any other sexually-oriented business. Section 13-133 measures every distance in a straight line between the nearest property lines, ignoring intervening buildings or the city limits.

A business lawfully open before February 22, 1994 that no longer meets these separations becomes a nonconforming use and may continue for up to two years under Section 13-137, with the first-established business at any cluster treated as the conforming one. , sound insulation so noise is not audible off-site, minimum interior lighting levels, and mandatory security guards once live entertainment draws more than 35 patrons.