King County, WA Business Licensing & Operations: Adult Entertainment (2026)
Key Facts
- License required
- Adult club, arcade, theater
- Buffer from homes/schools
- 330 feet
- Buffer between adult businesses
- 3,000 feet
- Max criminal penalty
- $1,000 fine, 90 days jail
- Jurisdiction
- Unincorporated area only
Summary
Unincorporated King County requires a business, manager and entertainer license for every adult club, arcade or theater, and zoning bars them within 330 feet of homes, schools or parks and 3,000 feet of each other.
Adult entertainment businesses shall be prohibited within three hundred thirty feet of any property zoned RA, UR, or R or containing schools, licensed daycare centers, public parks or trails, community centers, public libraries, or religious facilities. In addition, adult entertainment businesses shall not be located closer than three thousand feet to any other adult entertainment business. These distances shall be measured from the property line of the parcel or parcels proposed to contain the adult entertainment business to the property line of the parcels zoned RA, UR, or R or that contain the uses identified in this subsection B.6.a.
b. Adult entertainment businesses shall not be allowed within an area likely to be annexed to a city subject to an executed interlocal agreement between King County and a city declaring that the city will provide opportunities for the location of adult businesses to serve the area. The areas include those identified in the maps attached to Ordinance 13546. 7.a. Clubhouses, maintenance buildings, equipment storage areas, and driving range tees shall be at least fifty feet from RA, UR, and R zoned property lines.
b. Lighting for practice greens and driving range ball impact areas shall be directed away from adjoining RA, UR, and R zones.
c. Applications shall comply with adopted best management practices for golf course development.
Full Breakdown
King County Code chapter 6.09 requires an adult entertainment business license, plus separate manager and entertainer licenses, before any adult club, adult arcade or adult theater can operate in unincorporated King County. Seattle and the county's roughly 30 other cities license these businesses under their own municipal codes, not this one. Zoning code K.C.C. 21A.08.040 layers on a location rule: adult entertainment businesses cannot be sited within 330 feet of RA, UR or R-zoned property, schools, licensed daycares, parks, trails, community centers, libraries or religious facilities running classes for minors, and no closer than 3,000 feet to any other adult entertainment business.
Violations & Fines
Operating, managing or working at an unlicensed adult entertainment business, or violating the spacing rule, is a misdemeanor carrying up to a $1,000 fine and 90 days in jail, on top of license denial, suspension or revocation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does this cover strip clubs in Seattle?
How far must an adult club be from a school?
Can two adult businesses sit next to each other?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in King County
Compare King County to another location·View the Washington business licensing & operations overview
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