Flagler County, FL Business Licensing & Operations: Adult Entertainment (2026)

Flagler County Code Article IV of Chapter 19, the 'Flagler County Sexually Oriented Business and Adult Entertainment Establishment Ordinance,' restricts where these businesses can locate and requires them to be licensed. Sec. 19-78 limits all adult entertainment establishments in unincorporated Flagler County to the industrial zoning district under the county's Land Development Code. Sec. 19-79 goes further with a 1,000-foot buffer: no one may operate, establish, substantially enlarge, or transfer ownership of an adult entertainment establishment within 1,000 feet of another adult entertainment establishment, within 1,000 feet of any area zoned or comp-plan designated for residential use, or within 1,000 feet of any school, church, public park, other semi-public or public use, or land zoned PLI (public lands and institutions).

Distance is measured in a straight line, property line to property line, ignoring intervening structures, under Sec. 19-80. Six license classifications exist under Sec. 19-82: adult bookstore/video store, adult performance establishment, adult motel, adult theater, commercial bodily contact establishment, and escort service, with only one license per location and classification. Applicants pay a nonrefundable $1,500 application fee under Sec. 19-85 that credits toward the first annual license fee, and must submit fingerprints, a sworn application, and criminal-history disclosures for review by the county administrator's designee, the sheriff's office, and building and fire officials.

Operating without a valid license, or continuing after suspension or revocation, is unlawful under Sec. 19-82(a) and grounds for the establishment's closure. This ordinance governs unincorporated Flagler County only; Palm Coast, Flagler Beach, Beverly Beach, and Bunnell regulate these uses under their own codes.