Stonecrest, GA Business Licensing & Operations: Adult Entertainment (2026)
Key Facts
- Licenses required
- Separate business license + employee license
- Hours
- Closed midnight-6:00 a.m. (effective after 7-1-2017)
- Spacing
- 500 ft from other SOBs, homes, churches, parks, libraries
- Penalty
- Up to $1,000 fine and/or 6 months jail per violation
- Continuing violation
- Each day is a separate offense
- Enforcement
- Nuisance abatement + city legal counsel injunction
Summary
Stonecrest requires a separate City license for both a sexually oriented business and every employee who works nude or semi-nude, and bars these businesses from opening between midnight and 6:00 a.m. A 500-foot buffer keeps them away from each other, homes, churches, parks and libraries, and violations carry fines up to $1,000 and jail time.
(a)Business license. It is unlawful for any person to operate a sexually oriented business in the city without a valid sexually oriented business license.(b)Employee license. It is unlawful for any person to be an employee of a sexually oriented business in the city without a valid sexually oriented business employee license ... No sexually oriented business shall be or remain open for business between 12:00 midnight and 6:00 a.m. on any day after July 1, 2017. ... (a)It is unlawful to establish, operate, or cause to be operated a sexually oriented business in the city within 500 feet of another sexually oriented business. ... (b)It is unlawful to establish, operate, or cause to be operated a sexually oriented business in the city within 500 feet of a residential district, place of worship, park, or public library. ... A person who violates any of the provisions of this article shall be guilty of a violation and, upon conviction, shall be punishable by fines not to exceed $1,000.00 per violation, or by imprisonment for a period not to exceed six months, or by both such fine and imprisonment.
Full Breakdown
Sec. 15.12.3 of the Stonecrest Code requires two separate licenses: a sexually oriented business license for the operator and a sexually oriented business employee license for anyone whose job involves posing nude or semi-nude or exposing specified anatomical areas, though a business owner who is already licensed does not also need the employee license. Applicants must disclose any conviction for specified criminal activity, such as rape, prostitution, pandering or obscenity offenses, and the City Manager can deny, suspend or revoke a license for that record, for a nuisance finding against a prior business, or for false statements on the application.
Once licensed, a sexually oriented business cannot be open between 12:00 midnight and 6:00 a.m. on any day after July 1, 2017, under Sec. 15.12.12. Location is tightly controlled: no sexually oriented business may sit within 500 feet of another one, or within 500 feet of a residential district, a place of worship, a park or a public library, measured in a straight line between property lines, under Sec. 15.12.19. Inside the building, semi-nude employees must keep a required minimum distance from patrons and perform only from an elevated stage, alcohol is barred from the premises after July 1, 2017, and minors are not permitted on-site.
Violations & Fines
Any violation of the sexually oriented business article is punishable by a fine of up to $1,000.00 per violation or up to six months in jail, or both, under Sec. 15.12.15, and each day a violation continues counts as a separate offense. A property that repeatedly operates in violation is a nuisance the city can take to civil abatement court, and city legal counsel is separately authorized to sue to enjoin or correct violations.
Frequently Asked Questions
How late can a Stonecrest sexually oriented business stay open?
How close can a sexually oriented business be to a church or park in Stonecrest?
Does every worker at a Stonecrest sexually oriented business need their own license?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Stonecrest
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