Mesquite, TX Business Licensing & Operations: Adult Entertainment (2026)
Key Facts
- Buffer from sensitive uses
- 2,000 feet
- Buffer from another SOB
- 1,000 feet
- License
- Annual city license required
- Approval by
- Chief of police, city manager
- Governing sections
- Code §§ 12-2, 12-27
Summary
Mesquite requires a city license to run any sexually oriented business and bars one within 2,000 feet of homes, schools, churches, parks, or libraries, and within 1,000 feet of another such business.
No building permit or certificate of occupancy may be granted for, and a person commits an offense if he operates ... a sexually oriented commercial activity nearer than two thousand (2,000) feet from the nearest property line of any residential zone, or any public, private, or parochial school, library, park, playground or other recreational facility ... or any church ... (c) A person commits an offense if he causes or permits the operation ... of a sexually oriented business within one thousand (1,000) feet of another sexually oriented business.
Full Breakdown
Chapter 12 of the Mesquite code governs sexually oriented businesses. Section 12-2(a) blocks any building permit or certificate of occupancy, and makes operation an offense, within 2,000 feet of a residential zone, school, library, park, playground, church, city-owned property, or residential lot, and it outright bans them in the Town East Mall restaurant and retail area. Section 12-2(c) adds a 1,000-foot buffer from another such business. Section 12-27 requires an annual city license: the applicant files with the city secretary, the premises pass health, fire, building, and planning inspection, and the chief of police and city manager approve. Distances are measured in a straight line.
Violations & Fines
Operating a sexually oriented business without a city license, or inside the 2,000-foot or 1,000-foot buffers, is a criminal offense; the city may also sue for an injunction and suspend or revoke the license.
Frequently Asked Questions
How far must a Mesquite adult business sit from a school or church?
Do I need a permit to open one in Mesquite?
Can two adult businesses sit next to each other?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Mesquite
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How other cities in Dallas County handle adult entertainment.