Newport News, VA Business Licensing & Operations: Adult Entertainment (2026)
Key Facts
- Zones allowed
- C1, C2, C3 only
- Permit required
- conditional use permit
- School/church/park buffer
- 500 feet
- Residential zone buffer
- 200 feet
Summary
Newport News confines adult uses to C1, C2, and C3 zoning districts and requires a conditional use permit under City Code § 45-524, with a 500-foot buffer from schools, churches, parks, libraries, and other adult uses.
(b)No adult use shall be permitted except in, C1, C2, and C3 districts. A conditional use permit...is necessary for the establishment of an adult use.(c)No unit containing an adult use in the C1, C2 or C3 districts shall be located nearer than five hundred (500) feet to:(1)Any school, church, park, playground or a library property;(2)Any other adult use;(3)Any residentially zoned property which fronts on the same street...otherwise, the minimum distance from such unit to a residential zone shall be two hundred (200) feet.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 81).
Full Breakdown
Section 45-524 requires a conditional use permit, issued by city council on the planning commission's recommendation, before any adult use can open, and confines them to the C1, C2, and C3 districts. No adult use unit may sit closer than 500 feet to a school, church, park, playground, or library, to another adult use, or to residentially zoned property fronting the same street; where it doesn't front that street, the buffer to a residential zone drops to 200 feet.
Violations & Fines
Buffer distances are measured in a straight line from the unit itself. Opening an adult use without a conditional use permit, or inside the 500-foot or 200-foot buffers, is a zoning violation subject to city enforcement.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where can an adult use locate in Newport News?
How far must an adult business be from a school?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Newport News
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