Wellington, FL Business Licensing & Operations: Adult Entertainment (2026)

Wellington locates adult entertainment establishments, as defined in Article 3 of the Land Development Regulations, exclusively within the Flex Zoning District, which covers the Village's industrial and commerce park areas, under Sec. 6.2.2.B.1.d.i. On top of that zoning confinement, Sec. 6.2.2.B.1.d.ii imposes a flat 500-foot separation from five categories of use: any place of worship, any educational institution, any public park, any residential zoning district or the residential pod of a planned development, and any other adult entertainment establishment already operating. The distance is measured as a straight line from the nearest point of the proposed establishment's exterior wall or bay to the nearest point on the property line of the use requiring separation, and the code specifically states there shall be no variance granted from these locational standards.

An adult entertainment establishment must also install a landscape buffer along any property line abutting a residential project before a certificate of occupancy issues, and provide outdoor low-intensity lighting across the entire parking and vehicular area from structures no taller than 15 feet. If the operation wants to run past Wellington's normal hours of operation in the Code of Ordinances, it must separately obtain an extended-hours permit under Article 5 of the LDR. The Village grounded these standards in findings that adult entertainment uses carry secondary effects, including property crime, prostitution, and neighborhood blight, citing First Amendment secondary-effects case law such as City of Renton v. Playtime Theatres. Violating the adult entertainment regulations is punishable under the general penalty provisions of Section 1-12 of Wellington's Code of Ordinances.