Erie, PA Business Licensing & Operations: Adult Entertainment (2026)
Key Facts
- Spacing between adult uses
- 750 feet, property line to property line
- Spacing from sensitive uses
- 750 feet from homes, schools, churches, parks
- Governing section
- Zoning Ordinance § 305.33
- Nuisance remedy
- Article 712 abatement for lewd/prostitution use
- Comparable rule
- Bottle clubs: 1,000-foot spacing, § 305.34
Summary
Erie's zoning ordinance keeps adult bookstores, adult theaters and massage parlors at least 750 feet from each other and from any residential area, church, school, hospital, library, park or playground. A separate general-offenses article lets Council declare a lewd theater, publication outlet or massage parlor a public nuisance subject to abatement.
Adult bookstore, adult live entertainment, an adult motion-picture theater, an adult mini motion-picture theater, or a massage parlor shall be located at least 750 feet from the nearest property line of any other adult bookstore, adult motion-picture theater, adult mini motion-picture theater, or massage parlor and shall be located at least 750 feet from the nearest property line of any residential area, church, school, other institution of learning or education, hospital, library, park or playground.
Full Breakdown
33 requires that an adult bookstore, adult live entertainment venue, adult motion-picture theater, adult mini motion-picture theater or massage parlor sit at least 750 feet from the nearest property line of any other such use, and at least 750 feet from the nearest property line of any residential area, church, school or other institution of learning, hospital, library, park or playground. 34, and it applies wherever these uses are otherwise permitted in the City's commercial districts. Separately, Article 712, Lewd Theaters, Massage Parlors and Model Studios, lets the City treat a place exhibiting lewd films or lewd live theater, selling lewd publications, or operating as a massage parlor or model studio used for lewdness, assignation or prostitution as a public nuisance.
01 states that Council has found such commercial exploitation of explicit sexual conduct detrimental to community welfare, property values and public safety, and declares such activities a public nuisance subject to the abatement procedures the article establishes, layering a nuisance-abatement remedy on top of the zoning spacing requirement for businesses that cross into that conduct.
Violations & Fines
A business sited in violation of the 750-foot spacing rule is subject to zoning enforcement and denial or revocation of occupancy approval; a location independently found to host lewd exhibitions, publications sales, or prostitution-linked massage or model-studio activity can be declared a public nuisance under Article 712 and made subject to court-ordered abatement.
Frequently Asked Questions
How far must an adult bookstore be from a school in Erie?
Can two adult businesses operate next door to each other in Erie?
Does Erie treat a massage parlor used for prostitution differently from the spacing rule?
What zoning districts does the 750-foot rule apply in?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Erie
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