Lee County, NC Business Licensing & Operations: Adult Entertainment (2026)

Section 5.2 of the Lee County Unified Development Ordinance regulates any 'adult establishment' as defined in G.S. § 14-202.10, applying the county's own spacing standards in lieu of the general special use criteria in section 3.5.3. Under 5.2.2.2(a), the distance to a residential zoning district is measured in a straight line from the nearest property line of the adult-use site to the nearest boundary of the residential district, and none may be closer than 1,000 feet. Under 5.2.2.2(b), a 2,000-foot buffer applies to any church or place of worship, elementary or secondary school, day care facility, dwelling unit, business holding an on-premise North Carolina ABC permit, or public park that already exists or has been permitted when the adult-use application is filed, measured property line to property line.

Under 5.2.2.2(c), a further 2,000-foot buffer applies between one adult establishment and another that already exists or has been permitted. Beyond the spacing rules, section 5.2.2.1 requires compliance with G.S. Chapter 14, Article 26A, the state adult-establishment statute, on top of the county's own standards. Section 5.2.3.1 requires a special use permit before any adult establishment can be established or operated; if the county fails to act on that application within the deadline the ordinance sets, the application is deemed approved and the applicant can move on to a building permit and certificate of occupancy under section 3.2.4. No certificate of occupancy issues, and no adult establishment can operate, until that process is complete.