Santa Fe, NM Business Licensing & Operations: Adult Entertainment (2026)

The city's Land Development Code, Section 14-6.2(C)(1)(b), keeps sexually oriented businesses out of residential zones entirely and pushes them at least 1,000 feet from any residentially zoned district, from schools and religious institutions that serve minors, from parks and playgrounds, and from restaurants, hotels, motels, theaters, bowling alleys, day-care nurseries, kindergartens and libraries. The radius runs from the parcel line. Businesses operating lawfully before the city adopted Ordinance No. 2000-8 on February 9, 2000 are grandfathered as nonconforming uses under Article 14-10 rather than forced to relocate.

Beyond zoning, every sexually oriented business needs a city-issued operating license under Subsection 14-6.2(C)(1)(f). Applications go in triplicate to the city's accounts receivable office, with a copy routed to the Santa Fe police department, and the office must grant or deny within 21 days. Individual applicants, corporate officers and any partner with a financial stake must be at least 18 and clear of felony, moral turpitude, prostitution or obscenity convictions in the five years before applying. Licenses run one year and must be renewed at least 60 days before expiration. Businesses with private viewing booths must keep aisles unobstructed, walls solid from floor to six feet, and lighting at a minimum of ten foot-candles, with only one patron per booth. The governing body can revoke a license for false statements on the application, code violations, unpaid fees or illegal alcohol service on-site, after ten days' written notice and a public hearing. A revoked operator cannot get a new license for a year, and the location itself is barred from sexually oriented use for six months. Denials and revocations are appealable under Section 14-3.17.