Sedona, AZ Business Licensing & Operations: Adult Entertainment (2026)

C(28) sets both operational and siting standards for adult entertainment. General standards require exterior doors to stay closed during business hours, bar any depiction of specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas from being visible off-premises or to minors on site, and require that sound from performances not be audible off-premises. The location standards do the heavier lifting: an adult use cannot locate within 1,000 feet of another adult establishment, measured wall to wall, and cannot locate within 300 feet of a list of protected uses, including daycares, public and private schools, vocational schools, parks and open space, indoor and outdoor recreation facilities, libraries, religious assembly facilities, and clubs like the Boys and Girls Club or YMCA, provided those uses existed before the adult use application was filed.

A separate 300-foot buffer runs against zoning district boundaries themselves, covering every residential district plus M1, M2, L, PD, CF, and OS, with streets along those boundaries treated as part of the district. The Planning and Zoning Commission can waive the protected-use or district-boundary buffers only if 51 percent of residents within 300 feet, and 51 percent of nongovernmental owners of the listed protected uses within 500 feet, sign a petition verified by the Director. B, with the Director required to rule on completeness within 15 days and the Planning and Zoning Commission required to find the use will not create a sanitary nuisance, encourage illegal conduct, generate unusual traffic, or measurably reduce surrounding property values before approving it.