Wayne, NJ Business Licensing & Operations: Adult Entertainment (2026)

Wayne Township Code § 134-48.2 lists adult entertainment uses as a conditional use in the Industrial (I) district, limited to adult bookstores, adult motion picture theaters, adult entertainment cabarets and peep shows, and subject to § 134-63.2. Article I defines the group as adult bookstore, adult motion picture theater and adult entertainment cabaret. An adult bookstore is a business with more than 25% of its stock in trade devoted to material emphasizing specific sexual activities or specific anatomical areas.

Section 134-63.2 then stacks the siting conditions. Only one adult entertainment use is allowed on any lot. No such use can be established in a building any part of which is used for residential purposes, and no residential use can be added to a building that contains one. The premises must front directly on and take access from a state or federal highway. Parking is one off-street space for every two persons, counted from the maximum occupancy set by the Fire Official.

The distance rules are the heart of the section. The use must sit at least 1,500 feet from the lot line of any other adult entertainment use, 1,500 feet from the lot line of any residential district (defined to include any zoning district that permits residential use), and 1,500 feet from the lot line of any place of worship, community center, funeral home, school, day care center, hospital, alcoholism or drug treatment center, nursing home, senior citizen residence complex, counseling or psychiatric facility, public park, playground, playing field or ball field.

Every sexually oriented business needs a perimeter buffer of at least 50 feet in width, with plantings, a fence or another physical divider sufficient to impede the view of the interior. Exterior signage is capped at two signs, one identification sign and one notice that the premises are off limits to minors. The signs must be of equal size, together total no more than 20 square feet, never exceed 15% of the front area of the building, stay attached to the building below the roofline, carry lettering only, and not use intermittent or varying lighting. Section 134-63.2 also states that nothing in it permits obscene materials as defined in N.J.S.A. 2C:34-2.