Sanford, FL Business Licensing & Operations: Adult Entertainment (2026)

Sanford's Adult Entertainment Code, City Code Chapter 10, Article II, requires a license from the city tax collector before anyone can operate an adult bookstore, adult theater or adult performance establishment (Section 10-61); each license is limited to a single classification, and the tax collector reviews the application alongside the police, building, fire, health and zoning departments before granting or denying it (Sections 10-62 through 10-64). Section 10-91's distance rules are the real gatekeeper for where these businesses can locate: no adult entertainment establishment may open or expand within 1,500 feet of another adult entertainment establishment, a religious institution, an educational institution, the property line of a residence, or a park; within 500 feet of any area zoned for residential use in the city, Lake Mary, or unincorporated Seminole County; or within 200 feet of an establishment that sells alcohol for on-premises consumption.

Beyond the distance rules, Section 10-91(b) confines these uses to the city's RI-1 (Restricted Industrial) and MI-2 (Medium Industrial) zoning districts, the only districts where adult entertainment establishments are an expressly permitted use. Distances are measured under Section 10-92 as a straight line between the closest property lines of the two uses. Establishments that predated the April 11, 1994 restrictions had until April 11, 1996 to relocate or close under Section 10-93's nonconforming-use provision, and any nonconforming use that is discontinued for 90 or more consecutive days loses its grandfathered status permanently.

The planning and zoning commission can grant variances from the distance and zoning rules under Section 10-94 using the standard variance procedure in the Land Development Regulations.