Rowlett, TX Business Licensing & Operations: Adult Entertainment (2026)

Code of Ordinances § 10-373(a) makes it an offense to operate a sexually oriented business, defined in § 10-362 to include adult arcades, cabarets, motels, theaters, escort agencies, sex shops, nude model studios, and sexual encounter centers, within 1,000 feet of a church, school, public park, the boundary of a residential zoning district, the property line of a residential lot, or any publicly owned recreational land. Subsection (b) separately bars operating within 1,000 feet of another sexually oriented business, and subsection (c) bars stacking more than one such business in the same building.

Distances are measured in a straight line from the nearest wall of the business to the nearest property line of the protected use (§ 10-373(d)-(e)). Businesses lawfully operating before the location rule took effect become nonconforming and may continue for up to six months unless voluntarily discontinued for 30 days or more (§ 10-373(f)). Beyond the spacing rule, every sexually oriented business needs a separate city license under § 10-364: the police chief investigates each applicant, and a license must be denied to anyone under 18, delinquent on city taxes or fines, or convicted within the past two to five years of prostitution-related, obscenity, or sexual-assault offenses under the Texas Penal Code (§ 10-365).

Licenses expire annually and can be suspended up to 30 days or revoked for alcohol violations, gambling, prostitution, or repeat noncompliance (§§ 10-368-10-370). A denied applicant may seek a locational exemption from the city council by showing the business will not harm nearby property values or public safety (§ 10-374), and license or location decisions can otherwise be appealed to the city council (§ 10-371).