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

010, because adult businesses 'unless closely regulated, have serious secondary effects on the community,' including depreciated property values, higher vacancy, crime, litter, noise and vandalism. 030 bars an adult business from locating within 1,500 feet of any R-1, R-2, R-3, E or MP residential district, any public or private school, any church or place of worship, or any public park, and within 1,000 feet of another adult business, measured in a straight line from the nearest building wall to the nearest property line. 040 layers on development standards: no temporary or portable structures, screened trash enclosures, one parking space per 100 square feet of floor area, full-site lighting, signage that carries no sexually oriented imagery, a posted notice barring minors at every entrance, and a ban on converting an existing residential or nonconforming structure into an adult business.

Performance standards forbid on-site alcohol, promotional events that would overload parking, exterior visibility of sexual material from any public way, and sound audible beyond the building's walls. 230. 060 requires the application to include the applicant's identity, corporate officers or partners, a site plan, elevations, floor plans and the processing fee. 08 sheriff's requirements before approving, and the permit decision is final and not appealable.