Fargo, ND Business Licensing & Operations: Adult Entertainment (2026)

Fargo's Land Development Code bars any adult arcade, bookstore, cinema, entertainment facility, or sexual device shop from locating within 1,250 feet of a religious institution, school, park or recreation facility, SR or MR residential zoning district, residential planned unit development, or any establishment licensed to sell alcohol on-premises. Adult establishments also can't locate within 750 feet of each other. Distances run from the closest structure wall, sign, or roof overhang to the nearest property boundary of the protected use, and in a multi-tenant building it's measured to the specific tenant space, not the whole property. Entry is barred to anyone under 18, and the premises must stay open to law enforcement during business hours. Separately, adult establishments are an outright prohibited use for Non-farm Commercial conditional use permits and cannot be run as a home occupation anywhere in the city.