Las Cruces, NM Business Licensing & Operations: Adult Entertainment (2026)

Section 38-54's special use permit list zones adult bookstores, adult video stores and adult amusement establishments exclusively into Las Cruces' M1/M2 and M-3 industrial districts; they are not a permitted use in any commercial, office or residential zoning district. Even inside those industrial zones the use must clear a 1,000-foot buffer, measured from the property line of the adult business to the property line of any school, church, nursery or day care, public park or recreational facility, or residential zoning district. A second buffer requires at least 500 feet of separation from any liquor establishment, measured business-to-property-line. Both distance measurements run straight across streets, alleys, channels, canals, other public rights-of-way and railroad rights-of-way rather than following the route a person would actually walk or drive, so the buffer can't be shortened just because a road or drainage channel sits between the two properties.

The ordinance also imposes a specific warning-sign requirement rather than leaving signage to the general sign code. The operator must post a sign on the exterior wall nearest the primary entrance measuring 36 inches by 18 inches, with red lettering two inches wide and three inches tall on a white background, reading 'WARNING: ADULT BOOKSTORE/VIDEO STORE. THE BUSINESS WITHIN IS SEXUALLY ORIENTED' or the equivalent 'ADULT AMUSEMENT ESTABLISHMENT' wording. This use falls under the special use permit process in Section 38-54, which requires Planning and Zoning Commission review, a public hearing, and a special use permit that is revoked automatically if the use is discontinued for a year or never opens within two years of approval.