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Board adopts ordinance to define and require conditional-use review for adult businesses
Summary
Warren County adopted a zoning amendment to define ‘adult business,’ require conditional-use permits for such uses in commercial and industrial districts and add standards intended to reduce legal risk under the First Amendment.
Warren County supervisors approved a zoning text amendment that adds a definition and supplemental standards for “adult business,” making such uses permissible only by conditional-use permit in specified commercial and industrial districts.
Planning staff and the county attorney said the amendment is preemptive — the county has received no adult-business applications — and the language was written to comply with First Amendment constraints while giving the county a process to evaluate such businesses if applications arrive. The proposed ordinance adds a new definition to Chapter 180, creates CUP requirements for adult businesses in the Commercial and Industrial zoning districts, and adds supplemental procedures and standards to avoid legal challenges.
During the public hearing John Jenkins (South River) argued that the code could be interpreted as limiting commerce and expressed concerns that the ordinance might infringe on individual freedoms; the county attorney and planning staff repeatedly said the draft was narrowly tailored to pass constitutional review and that adoption is optional but recommended as a defensive measure. After discussion the board voted to adopt the amendment and moved it forward as zoning law.
Why it matters: The ordinance does not prohibit adult businesses outright; it creates a defined process to evaluate them at a public hearing under objective standards and by conditional-use review. Planning staff said the change is intended to reduce the county’s legal exposure if an application is filed.
What’s next: Planning staff will publish the ordinance language and update the Warren County Code to include the new definition and CUP procedures.
