Lake Havasu City, AZ Business Licensing & Operations: Adult Entertainment (2026)

Section 14.03.03(C)(11) of the Development Code adopts use-specific standards for "adult entertainment & retail" aimed at avoiding secondary effects such as drug dealing, health risks, and infiltration by organized crime. Subsection (b)(i) bars an adult business from locating within 500 feet of a religious facility, a public or private school, a day care or preschool, the boundary of a residential zoning district, a public park or playground, or any establishment holding an Arizona spirituous liquor license. That 500-foot distance is measured as a straight line between the two parcels' property lines, without regard to intervening structures, under subsection (b)(ii).

Subsection (b)(iii) separately bars an adult business from locating within 1,000 feet of any other adult business, measured wall-to-wall, and subsection (b)(iv) caps occupancy at one adult business per structure. Subsection (c) requires an adult business to close from 1:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. Monday through Saturday and from 1:00 a.m. to noon on Sunday, "in accordance with state law." Subsection (d) makes operating without required approval, or otherwise violating the section, a Development Code violation. Separately, Chapter 9.26 regulates conduct at premises serving alcohol that offer adult live entertainment: performers must wear minimum attire, may not simulate sex acts, may not dance within 6 feet of a patron, and may not solicit gratuities, and no one under 18 (or under 21 where alcohol is served) may attend or perform.