New Berlin, WI Business Licensing & Operations: Adult Entertainment (2026)

Section 152-17 defines adult-oriented establishments to include adult bookstores, adult cabarets, and adult mini or full motion-picture theaters showing material dominated by specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas. No such business may operate without a City-issued license, one license per fixed location, and licenses cannot be transferred. Existing businesses at the time the section passed had 90 days to apply or had to close. Applicants file in triplicate with the City Clerk, who refers the application to the Police Chief for investigation of every partner, officer, or 5%-plus shareholder; the Clerk must grant or deny within 21 days, and a denied applicant can request a hearing before the Council within ten days.

Every listed individual must be at least 18 and have no violation of this section within the preceding five years. Private viewing booths must be fully open on one side to a lighted public aisle, walled floor-to-ceiling with light-colored, cleanable surfaces, hold only one occupant, and carry a minimum of ten footcandles of light when idle; public aisles must stay lit to at least one footcandle at minimum. Licenses run one year and are subject to Chapter 227, Wis. contested-case procedures for denial, renewal, or revocation review. Schools are exempt for sex-education instruction.