Frederick County, VA Business Licensing & Operations: Adult Entertainment (2026)

01 sets the locational and operating conditions an adult retail use must meet anywhere it is allowed under the Zoning Ordinance's Article VI Use Matrix. The 2,500-foot spacing requirement runs from the adult retail property line to the property line of six protected categories: existing adult retail uses, schools, churches and places of worship, parks, day-care facilities, and any residential use or district, which in practice pushes the use toward the County's business and industrial districts away from the RA, RP, R4, R5 and MH1 residential districts.

The section separately bars adult retail from shopping centers and multitenant buildings altogether, so even a location that clears the 2,500-foot spacing test cannot open inside a strip center or a building shared with other tenants. m. The Board of Supervisors can add further conditions on a case-by-case basis when it approves the zoning permit or conditional use permit the location and district require, on top of the section's own minimum conditions. Any adult retail operator also needs the same Commissioner of the Revenue business license every commercial use in the County requires, and the Department of Planning and Development's Zoning Administrator confirms compliance with the spacing, signage and hours conditions before and after occupancy.