Franklin County, NC Business Licensing & Operations: Adult Entertainment (2026)

Franklin County treats a sexually oriented business as any use meeting the state's 'adult establishment' definition at G.S. § 14-202.10, adapted so 'massage business' excludes health clubs, exercise studios, hospitals, and physical therapy practices but reaches any business where massages involve exposed 'specified anatomical areas.' The UDC's stated purpose, at § 5.3.6.P.1, is to blunt the secondary effects the General Assembly has tied to these uses, increased crime and falling neighboring property values, by keeping them away from residential neighborhoods and minors. Item 2 sets the spacing: a sexually oriented business must sit at least a half mile, measured property line to property line in a straight line, from any other sexually oriented business existing or permitted as of the special use permit hearing notice, and the same half-mile buffer applies separately from adult day cares, bars and night clubs, childcare homes and centers, dwellings, family care and group living homes, public parks and recreation buildings, religious assembly, and schools.

No other principal use may share the building, and apart from on-premises identification signs, no advertising or promotional material may be visible from sidewalks, walkways, driveways, or parking areas. Because the standard runs through a special use permit, the Franklin County Board of Commissioners hears and rules on the application; a denial or a later violation moves through the Administrator's notice-and-correction process at UDC § 3.3, appealable to the Board of Adjustment, and can carry a civil penalty up to $500 per day or a Class 3 misdemeanor under § 3.4.2.