Miami restricts adult-entertainment establishments through Code Chapter 4 alcohol rules and Miami 21 form-based zoning. Such uses are confined to specific T6 urban-core transect zones with distance buffers from schools, churches, parks, and other adult businesses.
Miami regulates adult-entertainment establishments (adult theaters, bookstores, cabarets, and dance halls) through a combination of state, county, and city law. Florida Statute Chapter 847 sets baseline obscenity rules, Miami-Dade County Chapter 8A licenses adult businesses countywide, and Miami 21 zoning permits these uses only within select T6 urban-core transects. Sec. 4-3 of the Miami Code restricts alcohol service in adult-oriented venues, and operators must hold both a county-issued certificate of use and a state alcoholic-beverage license if they sell drinks. Buffers of 1,000 feet from schools, churches, parks, and existing adult uses apply, and warrant approval from the Planning Director is typically required.
Operating without a county certificate, breaching zoning buffers, or violating distance-from-school separation triggers cease-and-desist orders, daily fines up to 500 dollars, license revocation, and possible misdemeanor prosecution. Alcohol-rule breaches add state ABT enforcement.
See how Miami's adult entertainment rules stack up against other locations.
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