Marion, OH Business Licensing & Operations: Adult Entertainment (2026)
Key Facts
- C-2 distance limit
- 1,500 linear feet from residential district, school, church or public cemetery
- Theater distance limit
- 1,500 feet from a residential district for adult-restricted films
- Permitted district
- C-3 Central Core Business District, § 1143.013(A)(8)
- Enforcing official
- Safety/Service Director, § 1175.01
- Separate license
- None printed in the Business Regulation Code
Summary
In the City of Marion, Ohio, adult only entertainment establishments are defined in § 1143.013(A)(8) as a principal use in the C-3 Central Core Business District, and the C-2 retail listing in § 1143.012(A)(2) excludes them within 1,500 linear feet of any residential district, school, church, or public cemetery. The code read for this page prints no separate adult-business license.
Video movie sales or rental are allowed, but not Adult Only Entertainments as defined within Section 1143.013 (A)(8) within 1,500 linear feet from any residential district or within 1,500 linear feet from any school, church, or public cemetery. ... (8) Adult only entertainment establishments, which are defined as those containing each of the following elements: (a) A business or enterprise which presents material including but not limited to books, tapes, videos, or performances whose tendency is the selling, showing, exhibition, or presenting entertainment involving nudity or semi-nudity. (b) Nudity means the appearance of a human bare buttock, anus, male genitals, female genitals, or areola of the female breasts. ... (c) Semi-nude or semi-nudity means a state of dress in which clothing covers no more than the genitals, public region, and areola of the female breast, as well as portions of the body covered by supporting straps or devices.
Full Breakdown
Marion regulates adult entertainment through its zoning code, not through a business license. The Business Regulation Code in this edition of the Marion Codified Ordinances prints no adult-business or sexually oriented business permit chapter, so the printed rules are use and distance rules in Chapter 1143.
Section 1143.012(A)(2), in the C-2 Community Shopping District, lists retail businesses selling or renting new merchandise. It says video movie sales or rental are allowed, but not Adult Only Entertainments as defined within Section 1143.013(A)(8) within 1,500 linear feet from any residential district or within 1,500 linear feet from any school, church, or public cemetery. Section 1143.012(A)(6) adds a separate theater limit: theaters shall not include the showing of movies or films of a nature restricted to adult audiences, within 1,500 feet of a residential district.
Section 1143.013(A)(8), in the C-3 Central Core Business District, lists adult only entertainment establishments among the principal permitted uses and defines them as establishments containing each of three elements: a business presenting books, tapes, videos or performances whose tendency is presenting entertainment involving nudity or semi-nudity, plus the printed definitions of nudity and semi-nudity. Section 1143.014(A)(1) lets the C-4 Central Frame Business District take any principal use permitted in the C-3 district.
Enforcement runs through the zoning code. Section 1175.01 makes the Safety/Service Director responsible for enforcing it and says any permit or license issued in conflict with the code is null and void. Section 1177.02(B) bars a zoning permit unless the plans, specifications and intended use conform to the zoning code and all other applicable laws and regulations.
Violations & Fines
The excerpted sections print no fine or jail term. Under § 1175.01 the Safety/Service Director enforces the zoning code, all officials who issue permits or licenses shall issue none for a use in conflict with it, and any permit or license issued in conflict is null and void. Under § 1177.02(B) no zoning permit issues unless the intended use conforms to the code.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Marion, Ohio require a permit for an adult entertainment business?
How far must adult entertainment be from homes, schools and churches?
How does Marion define an adult only entertainment establishment?
Is there a distance rule for adult movie theaters in Marion?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Marion
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