Greenwood County, SC Business Licensing & Operations: Adult Entertainment (2026)
Key Facts
- Permitted districts
- C-2, C-3, I-1, I-2, rural development
- Buffer distance
- 1,000 ft from sensitive uses
- Hours closed
- Sat 12am to Mon sunrise
- Age restriction
- Under 21 barred from premises
- Uses per tract
- One adult use maximum
- Grandfather clause
- Pre-1993 uses had 2 years to conform
Summary
Adult businesses in unincorporated Greenwood County are confined to the C-2, C-3, I-1, I-2, and rural development districts, and each one must sit at least 1,000 feet from any church, school, park, cemetery, residence, or other adult use. They must close from midnight Saturday until sunrise Monday, bar anyone under 21, and never number more than one to a tract.
(k)Adult uses. Owing to the serious objectionable operational characteristics of sexually oriented or adult uses, and the deleterious effect of such uses on existing businesses and/or residential areas around them, the location of such uses, where permitted by this chapter, shall be subject to the supplemental siting criteria of this section.(1)Adult uses shall be permitted in the C-2, C-3, I-1, I-2, and rural development districts only.(2)No adult use shall be located within 1,000 feet (measured radially from property line to property line) of any other adult use, a house of worship, a residential use or residentially zoned district, a public or private elementary or secondary school, a day care facility, cemetery or funeral home, movie theater showing G or PG films, a public park, courthouse, or other publicly owned facility, or a long-term medical care facility (i.e., hospital, nursing home, etc.). ... (4)No adult use shall be open, operated, presented, or conducted between the hours of 12:00 a.m. Saturday and sunrise Monday morning.(5)No adult use shall allow any person under the age of 21 years upon the premises.
Full Breakdown
Section 6-3-117(k) imposes supplemental siting standards on sexually oriented or adult uses because of what the county calls their objectionable operational characteristics and their deleterious effect on nearby businesses and residential areas. The uses are permitted only in the C-2, C-3, I-1, I-2, and rural development zoning districts, and each one must be spaced at least 1,000 feet, measured property line to property line, from any other adult use, house of worship, residential use or residentially zoned district, public or private school, day care facility, cemetery, funeral home, theater showing G- or PG-rated films, public park, courthouse, other public facility, or long-term medical care facility.
Every adult use needs direct access from a collector or arterial street, must close between 12:00 a.m. Saturday and sunrise Monday, and may not admit anyone under the age of 21. Signage is restricted to the establishment's name, with no photographs, silhouettes, or pictorial representations allowed, and no tract of land may host more than one adult use. Businesses lawfully operating before November 16, 1993 that do not meet these standards became nonconforming uses with a two-year window to close or come into compliance, after which the nonconforming status expired.
Applications for a new adult use go through the joint planning commission for a site plan review under the broader supplemental development standards process in Section 6-3-117(c) and (d).
Violations & Fines
Operating an adult use outside the permitted districts, inside the 1,000-foot buffer, past closing hours, or with a prohibited under-21 patron violates Section 6-3-117(k) as a zoning ordinance violation. Under Title 12, that violation is prosecuted as a criminal offense or civil infraction, punishable up to the maximum fine or jail term authorized by state law for a county ordinance violation, and each day the violation continues is treated as a separate offense under Section 12-1-2.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where can an adult business legally locate in unincorporated Greenwood County?
How far must an adult business be from a school or church?
Can anyone under 21 go into an adult business in the county?
What happened to adult businesses that existed before this rule was adopted?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Greenwood County
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