Monroe Township (Gloucester County), NJ: Adult Entertainment (2026)
Key Facts
- Uses covered
- Adult bookstores, adult movie houses, massage parlors
- District named
- RD-C Zoning District
- Required spacing
- 1,320 feet from listed uses
- Residential trigger
- Development of 10 or more units
- Subsection amended
- 1984, 1987 and 1992
- Enforcing officers
- Zoning Officer and Construction Code Official
Summary
Monroe Township, Gloucester County, NJ permits adult bookstores, adult movie houses and massage parlors, as the Code defines them, in the RD-C Zoning District as local retail sales and service establishments. Section 175-157C also bars any such use within 1,320 feet of a similar use, a place of religious worship, a school and other listed sites.
C. Adult bookstores and movie houses; massage parlors. These uses as defined in Article III of this chapter shall be permitted in the RD-C Zoning District under the category of local retail sales and service establishments in § 175-160B, subject to the same requirements as all other such uses for that district. In addition, no such use shall be located within 1,320 feet of the property line of any similar use, place of religious worship, school, recreational or health-care facility, library, any establishment licensed for the sale or consumption of alcoholic beverages or any existing or approved residential development consisting of 10 or more units approved as a single development project.
Full Breakdown
Section 175-157C of the Monroe Township Code is a location rule, not a permit schedule, for the adult uses the Township Council regulates in Monroe Township, Gloucester County. Adult bookstores and movie houses, and massage parlors, are permitted in the RD-C Zoning District under the category of local retail sales and service establishments in § 175-160B, subject to the same requirements as all other such uses for that district. RD-C is the only district the subsection names, and § 175-157A(3) provides that a use is not permitted in any zone district of the Township unless specifically included as a use or category of use in the chapter and in the specific zone district.
Spacing is the added layer. No such use shall be located within 1,320 feet of the property line of any similar use, place of religious worship, school, recreational or health-care facility, library, any establishment licensed for the sale or consumption of alcoholic beverages, or any existing or approved residential development consisting of 10 or more units approved as a single development project. The subsection was amended on 7-18-1984 by Ord. No. O-11-84, on 12-21-1987 by Ord. No. O-47-87 and on 7-21-1992 by Ord. No. O-27-92.
The uses are defined in Article III, § 175-11. An ADULT BOOKSTORE is an establishment having as a substantial or significant portion of its stock-in-trade books, magazines, other periodicals, films and other viewing materials distinguished or characterized by their emphasis on matters depicting, describing or relating to specified sexual activity, sexual conduct or specified anatomical areas. An ADULT MOTION-PICTURE THEATER is an enclosed building used for presenting films, slides or pictures with that same emphasis for observation by patrons therein. A MASSAGE PARLOR is any establishment, public or private, where physical contact is provided resulting in any specified sexual activity or sexual conduct.
This record covers the zoning location rule only. No adult-business license, fee or hours provision appears in the section cited.
Violations & Fines
A use in the listed categories that sits within 1,320 feet of a similar use, a place of religious worship, a school, a recreational or health-care facility, a library, a liquor-licensed establishment or a residential development of 10 or more units violates § 175-157C. The Zoning Officer and the Construction Code Official enforce Chapter 175 under § 175-8. No fine amount is printed in the subsection, so none is cited here.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where are adult bookstores and massage parlors permitted in Monroe Township, Gloucester County?
How far must an adult use be from a school or church in Monroe Township?
How does the Code define a massage parlor?
Who enforces the adult use location rule?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Monroe Township (Gloucester County)
Compare Monroe Township (Gloucester County) to another location·View the New Jersey business licensing & operations overview
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