Santee, CA Business Licensing & Operations: Adult Entertainment (2026)
Key Facts
- Outright ban
- Unlawful citywide, Section 13.28.010(B)(1)
- Fallback spacing rule
- 600 ft from another adult business
- Sensitive-use spacing
- 600 ft from schools, parks, churches, daycares
- Entertainer license
- Required for adult cabaret staff (Sec. 13.28.020(C)(1))
- Exterior design
- Windows/openings must be screened (Sec. 13.28.020(D))
Summary
In the City of Santee, Municipal Code Section 13.28.010(B)(1) makes it unlawful to own, operate, construct or establish an adult entertainment establishment anywhere within City limits. A severability clause preserves the siting standard in Section 13.28.020(B) if that outright ban is ever struck down: no adult business could then locate within 600 feet of another adult business or within 600 feet of a school, nursery, daycare center, church, park or playground.
1. It is unlawful to own, operate, construct or establish an adult entertainment establishment, as defined in the Santee Zoning Ordinance, within the City limits. 2. Should all or any portion of subsection (B)(1) be declared invalid, then Section 13.28.020(B) of the Santee Municipal Code shall be unchanged and shall remain in full force and effect as it read on December 1, 1985. ... ... B. General Requirements. In order to meet the above stated objectives adult entertainment establishments may be permitted only on those parcels of land consistent with the City's housing element, subject to the following restrictions: 1. No such business shall be located on a lot within 600 feet of any other lot on which another adult business is located. 2. No such business shall be located on a lot within 600 feet of the nearest point of a lot on which is located a public or private school, a nursery, a daycare center, a church, or a public park or playground.
Full Breakdown
Chapter 13.28, Adult Businesses, opens by declaring the flat prohibition in 13.28.010(B)(1), then immediately builds in a fallback: subsection (B)(2) states that if the ban is declared invalid, Section 13.28.020(B) 'shall be unchanged and shall remain in full force and effect as it read on December 1, 1985,' preserving the spacing rule as a stand-alone regulation. Section 13.28.030 defines the covered uses broadly: adult bookstores, adult cabarets, adult drive-in theaters, adult hotels or motels, adult mini-motion picture theaters, adult model studios, adult motion picture arcades and theaters, and sexual encounter establishments.
If the 600-foot spacing rule ever governs on its own, Section 13.28.020(C)(1) additionally requires entertainers and other personnel working in an adult cabaret to hold an adult entertainment license, and subsection (D) requires exterior design that screens all building openings, entries and windows so no sexually oriented material or activity is visible from public sidewalks, streets, arcades, hallways or passageways, and bars exterior advertising or signage depicting specified sexual activities or anatomical areas. Any such use must also meet the development, design and landscape standards of the general industrial zone.
Violations & Fines
Operating, constructing or establishing an adult entertainment establishment anywhere in Santee violates Section 13.28.010(B)(1) outright. If a court ever limits that ban to the 600-foot spacing rule instead, a business sited within 600 feet of another adult business or of a school, nursery, daycare, church, park or playground would be in violation of Section 13.28.020(B), an adult cabaret employing an unlicensed entertainer would violate subsection (C)(1), and unscreened windows or visible exterior signage would violate subsection (D); Development Services code compliance and the Title 1 general penalty and administrative citation provisions apply.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are adult businesses allowed in Santee at all?
If the ban were struck down, where could an adult business locate?
Do adult cabaret performers need a permit in Santee?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Santee
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