Fullerton, CA Business Licensing & Operations: Adult Entertainment (2026)

020. Anyone wanting to run an adult business must file a permit application with the Department of Development Services on the department's own form, and the permit process runs on top of the city's regular business license requirement rather than replacing it. 060 sets the criteria the Planning Commission applies before granting a permit. First, the lot must be legally created and classified in Zone C-2, C-H, C-M, M-P or M-G; no other zoning classification qualifies. Second, even within those permitted zones, the business cannot locate within 750 feet of any residential zone, school, park, playground, daycare facility, special needs housing facility or mobile home park, whether that protected use sits within Fullerton or in an area zoned residential in an adjoining city.

The code specifies how that buffer is measured: a straight line from the nearest property line of the proposed adult business to the nearest property line of the residential zone or protected use. Beyond the zoning and spacing tests, the applicant must also show the proposed use is consistent with the General Plan, meets the development and design standards of the underlying zone under Title 15, complies with all local, state and federal building, fire and health code requirements, and generates traffic consistent with the city's circulation element.

Permit applications require extensive personal disclosure from the operator, including a California driver's license or Social Security number, any prior adult-business permit history and revocations, and whether the applicant has a sex-offense conviction or plea within the past four years, plus fourteen blueline site plans and, when triggered by county traffic thresholds, a traffic impact study.