Dorchester County, SC Business Licensing & Operations: Adult Entertainment (2026)

17 of the county's Zoning and Land Development Standards Ordinance (Ord. No. 04-13) opens with "Notwithstanding any other provisions of the Zoning Ordinance," language that makes this spacing rule override any more permissive zoning designation elsewhere in the code. "Adult establishment" is a defined term under Article XXV of the ordinance, and any use that meets that definition cannot be sited within 1,000 feet of a Residential Zoning District, a single- or multi-family dwelling, a church, or a park, or within a full mile of any public or private school.

Because Dorchester County has residential districts, dwellings, churches and parks scattered throughout its unincorporated area, the effect is to confine an adult establishment to isolated commercial or industrial parcels that clear all four distance tests at once. The Zoning Administrator applies these distances when reviewing a business's site plan and zoning permit application before any adult-oriented use can open, with the County Planning and Zoning Department handling that review. A separate general-code provision, Sec. 28-4, regulates the display of sexually oriented merchandise inside ordinary retail stores: a business operator who stocks such merchandise must confine it to an enclosed area inaccessible to and out of view of children, post a warning sign at the entrance to that area, and bar anyone under 18 from entering unless accompanied by a parent or guardian. 00 or 30 days in jail, with each day of continued display violation charged as a separate offense.