Oconee County, SC Business Licensing & Operations: Adult Entertainment (2026)

The permit requirement sits in the Unified Performance Standards, Chapter 32 Article II, Sec. 32-46, and applies only to the unincorporated area of Oconee County. Every owner with at least a ten percent stake must sign the application, filed with the planning director, and the applicant must show proof of identification and age. The planning director must approve or deny the application within 30 days under Sec. 32-47, and can refuse a permit if the site violates the locational rules, if the applicant is under 18, if the fire marshal, building official or DHEC finds the premises unsafe, or if the operator owes the county unpaid taxes, fees or fines.

County council sets the permit fee by resolution. Once issued, a permit runs 12 months (Sec. 32-50), and renewal applications are due between 30 and 45 days before expiration. Sec. 32-57(e) sets the buffer: no sexually oriented business may locate within 1,000 feet, measured in a straight line without regard to intervening structures, of a church or place of worship, a public or private school, a residence, a public or private park or recreation area, or another sexually oriented business, and no more than one such business is allowed per parcel.

Sec. and bars Sunday operation entirely. A business already operating when the ordinance passed gets 120 days to apply and, if nonconforming to the spacing rule, may hold up to three one-year permits (Secs. 32-56, 32-58) before it must close or relocate to a conforming site. The planning director can suspend a permit for up to 30 days, or revoke it outright, for violations, refused inspections, unregistered employees or letting a minor onto the premises (Secs. 32-51, 32-52); a revoked permit cannot be reissued at that location for 12 months.