Paramount, CA Business Licensing & Operations: Adult Entertainment (2026)

Chapter 5.24 of the Paramount Municipal Code makes it unlawful to operate an adult entertainment establishment anywhere in the City of Paramount without first obtaining and keeping in force a regulatory permit (§ 5.24.030). The applicant files with the Public Safety Director and pays a nonrefundable filing fee set by City Council resolution (§ 5.24.040). The application includes a scaled sketch of the interior and a certificate and straight line drawing prepared within 30 days before filing, showing any other adult establishment within 1,000 feet of the primary entrance and any church, school, park, residential zone or use within 1,000 feet (§ 5.24.050).

Within 25 business days of a completed application the Public Safety Director issues a temporary 30-day permit and decides on the annual permit within 30 calendar days. The permit is granted on findings that the business meets the locational criteria of Title 17 and the standards of § 5.24.120. If the Director neither grants nor denies within 45 calendar days of receipt, the application is deemed granted (§ 5.24.060). Denial grounds include false statements, an applicant under 18, an unpaid fee, noncompliant location, and certain Penal Code convictions within two years for a misdemeanor or five years for a felony (§ 5.24.070). Permits expire one year after issuance, renewal requests are due at least 45 calendar days before expiration, and permits are nontransferable without an amendment from the Director (§ 5.24.080).

Spacing is set by § 17.100.030: 1,000 feet from any other adult entertainment establishment and from any existing residential zone or use, park, church or school, measured as a radius from the primary entrance to the property lines without regard to intervening structures.

Operating standards in § 5.24.120 include hours only between 10:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m., one parking space for each 250 square feet of net floor area, opaque exterior windows, and no one under 18 admitted. Venues with live entertainment depicting specified anatomical areas must use a stage at least 18 inches above the floor, separated from patrons by at least 10 feet. Adult establishments featuring live entertainment provide at least one security guard, with another if the occupancy limit exceeds 35 persons.