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

Under Zoning Ordinance Chapter 2-28, no sexually oriented business may operate, engage in, conduct or carry on business in Irvine unless the owner first obtains a sexually oriented business permit and a business license (Sec. 2-28-2). The City Manager must issue the permit within 15 calendar days of a complete application if it satisfies the locational and operational findings in Sec. 2-28-5. Those findings require the use to sit in the General Industrial or IBC Industrial zone; to be at least 2,300 feet from any residential zone or approved residential use in Irvine, Lake Forest, Laguna Hills or Tustin, or from Marine Corps land; at least 2,300 feet from any religious institution, public park, child care center or school; and at least 500 feet from another sexually oriented business.

Distances are measured in a straight line between property lines, without regard to intervening structures (Sec. F). 25 footcandles, single-occupancy individual viewing areas with no holes between them, and an unobstructed sightline from a manager's station no larger than 32 square feet. The applicant or its officers/partners must not have been found guilty within the past two years of violating a sexually oriented business permit or of specified Penal Code sex offenses. Permits are nontransferable and location-specific (Sec. 2-28-9): any sale, transfer or change in the nature of the business voids the permit.

The Director of Community Development can revoke a permit if the Sec. 2-28-5 findings cease to be met, the application contained false information, or the permittee is convicted of a qualifying offense, following written notice and a hearing officer process (Sec. 2-28-10).