Springfield, MO Business Licensing & Operations: Adult Entertainment (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing section
- LDC § 36-460
- Permitted districts
- GR, HC, CS, RI, LI, GM, HM
- Residential buffer
- 2,000 feet
- Spacing between uses
- 1,000 feet minimum
- Alcohol establishments
- adult entertainment banned outright, § 10-7
Summary
Springfield confines adult motion picture theaters, adult stores, and cabarets to seven commercial and industrial zoning districts and keeps them at least 2,000 feet from any residential district, school, park, or church.
An adult motion picture theater, adult store, or cabaret, as defined in section 36-301, definitions, may locate only in GR, HC, CS, RI, LI, GM and HM zoning districts. Such uses are prohibited within the area circumscribed by a circle which has a radius of 2,000 feet from any residential zoning district, school, park, or church, or any legally platted subdivision in which 75 percent or more of the developed lots are used for residential purposes. A developed lot shall be defined as a lot upon which a habitable building or dwelling house is constructed. No more than one such use may locate in each 1,000 feet.(3)Distances. The distances provided in this section shall be measured by following a straight line, without regard to intervening structures or objects, from the adult motion picture theater, adult store, or cabaret to the nearest point of the parcel of property containing a school, park, or church, or the residential zoning district boundary line. (Zoning Ord., § 5-2000; G.O. 4691, 4-14-97)
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 23 Update 2 | Land Development Code: Supplement 9 Update 1).
Full Breakdown
LDC § 36-460 restricts where adult motion picture theaters, adult stores, and cabarets, as defined in § 36-301, may locate: only the GR, HC, CS, RI, LI, GM, and HM zoning districts qualify. Even inside those districts, the use can't sit within 2,000 feet of any residential zoning district, school, park, church, or a platted subdivision that's 75 percent or more residential, and no more than one such use may locate within any 1,000-foot stretch. Separately, general City Code § 10-7 bans 'adult entertainment', nude or topless performance, outright in any Springfield, Missouri establishment licensed to sell or serve alcohol, regardless of its zoning district.
Violations & Fines
Locating outside the seven permitted districts, inside the 2,000-foot residential/school/park/church buffer, or within 1,000 feet of another such use violates § 36-460's siting rule.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where can an adult business locate in Springfield?
Can a bar in Springfield offer nude entertainment?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Springfield
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