Oneida, NY Business Licensing & Operations: Adult Entertainment (2026)
Key Facts
- Spacing distance
- 500 feet
- Protected uses
- Residential zones, dwellings, schools, churches, parks
- Businesses covered
- Arcades, bookstores, cabarets, theaters, massage parlors
- Penalty
- Class A misdemeanor, per day
- Amended
- May 7, 1996 by Ord. No. 96-03
Summary
The City of Oneida bans adult entertainment businesses within 500 feet of any residential district, one- to four-family or multifamily dwelling, school, church or public park. Code Section 190-27 defines several categories of covered business, from adult arcades and bookstores to cabarets, theaters and massage parlors.
B. Restrictions. Adult entertainment businesses are prohibited, and no person as owner, operator, manager or agent shall operate or permit the operation of an adult entertainment business in the City of Oneida, within: (1) Five hundred feet of any residential zoning district or any one-, two-, three- or four-family, mobile or multifamily dwelling, including structures devoted to both residential and commercial or business purposes. (2) Five hundred feet of any public or private school. (3) Five hundred feet of any church or other religious facility or institution. (4) Five hundred feet of any public park.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: rev 4996966; v33 updated 2026-07-07; through 07-07-2026).
Full Breakdown
Section 190-27, amended May 7, 1996 by Ordinance No. 96-03, prohibits any owner, operator, manager or agent from operating an adult entertainment business anywhere within 500 feet of a residential zoning district, a one-, two-, three- or four-family, mobile or multifamily dwelling, a public or private school, a church or other religious facility, or a public park. Subsection C measures that 500 feet as a straight line, ignoring intervening buildings, from the nearest point of the adult business parcel to the nearest point of the protected parcel or district boundary.
Subsection D defines the covered uses in detail: adult arcades showing sexually explicit media to five or fewer viewers at a time, adult bookstores where such material or paraphernalia makes up half or more of the stock in trade, adult cabarets featuring live nudity or sexual conduct, adult motion-picture theaters, adult theaters with live performances, and massage parlors, excluding licensed medical, chiropractic, physical therapy or similar professional treatment and excluding incidental massage at an athletic club, health club, school, gym or spa. Specified sexual activities and specified anatomical areas are defined separately to give the spacing rule objective triggers rather than leaving them to interpretation.
Subsection F exempts theaters or concert halls that are primarily devoted to theatrical performances, so a mainstream venue that occasionally shows adult content in a broader program is not automatically swept in.
Violations & Fines
Violating Section 190-27's spacing restriction is a Class A misdemeanor under Subsection E, with each day of continued violation counted as a separate offense. The City can also bring an action or special proceeding for an injunction or other equitable relief to shut down a noncompliant adult entertainment business, and using one remedy does not prevent the City from also pursuing another.
Frequently Asked Questions
How far must an adult business be from a school in Oneida?
What counts as an adult entertainment business under Oneida's code?
What is the penalty for violating Oneida's adult business spacing rule?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Oneida
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