Roanoke County, VA Business Licensing & Operations: Adult Entertainment (2026)

Chapter 13, Article III sets up a standalone licensing scheme for adult businesses, defined at § 13-100 to include adult bookstores, video stores, model studios, motels, movie theaters, nightclubs and stores, plus any establishment that regularly features live entertainment aimed at sexual stimulation. Section 13-101 requires an operator to apply to the chief of police or a designee, pay a $500 application fee, and disclose extensive background information: personal identifying details, references, any felony or misdemeanor convictions, prior adult-business permits held anywhere in the past five years, and any past permit denial or revocation, along with fingerprints, a photograph and a criminal-records check.

The chief of police must act within thirty days of a complete application, with one thirty-day extension if outside law-enforcement records are pending; if the deadline passes without action and no extension was granted, the applicant may begin operating until formally denied. A permit must issue unless the investigation shows a false answer, a felony conviction within five years, a moral-turpitude or obscenity conviction within three years, a permit denial or revocation within the past twelve months, noncompliance with the county's business-license, zoning, building or fire codes, or a missing fee.

Once issued, the permit lasts twelve months and renews at a $100 fee; it is void if ownership, principals or managers change, and it can never be transferred to a new person or location under § 13-108. Section 13-102 lists separate grounds for revoking an active permit, and § 13-103 gives a permittee the right to a hearing before the chief of police within ten days of a denial or revocation, followed by circuit court review under § 13-104. The article sets no minimum distance from schools, churches or residences; it regulates the business through the permit and background-check process rather than a spacing standard.