Fitchburg, WI Business Licensing & Operations: Adult Entertainment (2026)

City Code Chapter 62, Division 2 makes it unlawful to own, operate or manage an adult-oriented or adult entertainment establishment in Fitchburg without first applying for, paying for and holding a current license issued by the common council under Sec. 62-50. A license covers only one fixed location; anyone running more than one location needs a separate annual license for each, and no license or interest in one may be transferred person-to-person or place-to-place. Sec. 62-51 layers zoning on top of licensing: no licensed premises may be located or operated contrary to the zoning, distancing or land-use rules of Chapter 22, and if a licensed use becomes nonconforming, it loses that grandfathered status if more than one year passes after a license lapses or is revoked.

Chapter 22's B-H Highway Business District conditional-use list, Sec. 22-311(18), is the operative distancing rule: adult entertainment establishments are a conditional use only, and only where a 1,320-foot buffer separates the property line from any other adult entertainment establishment, any day care licensed for eight or more children, any school, park or place of worship. Applicants must submit a diagram showing the site meets all zoning and distancing requirements, and the police department, planning/zoning administrator, finance department, utility department and court clerk all review the application before the public safety and human services committee reports to the common council, which must approve by majority vote within roughly 45 days. m. on weekends (Sec. 62-129), and no minor may enter, be present on, or loiter near the premises (Sec. 62-127).