Laredo, TX Business Licensing & Operations: Adult Entertainment (2026)
Key Facts
- Distance from church/school/park/residential
- 2,000 feet
- Distance from another such business
- 1,500 feet
- Allowed zoning
- M-1 or M-2 only
- License fee
- $950/year, $150 to apply
- Enforcing agency
- Chief of police
Summary
Laredo requires a city-issued license for any sexually oriented business and confines them to M-1 or M-2 industrial zoning. Each must sit at least 2,000 feet from churches, schools, parks, and residential districts, and 1,500 feet from another such business.
(a) A person commits an offense if that person operates or causes to be operated a sexually oriented business in any zoning district other than an M-1 or M-2 district as defined and described in the land development ordinance. (b) A person commits an offense if the person operates or causes to be operated a sexually oriented business within two thousand (2,000) feet of: (1) A church; (2) A public or private elementary or secondary school; (3) A boundary of any residential district; (4) A public park; ... (c) ... within one thousand five hundred (1,500) feet of another sexually oriented business.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 23 Update 3 | Land Development Code: Supplement 1).
Full Breakdown
Chapter 18A is enforced by the chief of police as enforcement officer. Operating without a valid license is unlawful; the notarized application carries a $150 nonrefundable processing fee, and the annual license fee is $950. A sexually oriented business may operate only in an M-1 or M-2 district and commits an offense if located within 2,000 feet of a church, a public or private elementary or secondary school, a public park, or the boundary of any residential district, measured in a straight line from property line to property line. It must also stay 1,500 feet from any other sexually oriented business.
Violations & Fines
Operating without a license, or inside the prohibited zones or buffers, is a criminal offense; the city can also deny, suspend, or revoke the license after a city-manager hearing.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where can a sexually oriented business open in Laredo?
How much is a Laredo adult-business license?
Who issues the license?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Laredo
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