Elk Grove Municipal Code Art. VI Development and Performance Standards

It shall be unlawful for any licensee, operator, or other person in charge of any adult-oriented business to permit to enter, or remain within, the adult-oriented business any person who is not at least eighteen (18) years of age or to provide any service for which this chapter requires a license to any person who is not at least eighteen (18) years of age.

(Ord. 41-2005 § 3, eff. 1-14-2006; Ord. 7-2009 § 3, eff. 5-1-2009)

No adult-oriented business shall be operated in any manner that permits the observation of any material or activities depicting or describing specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas from any public way or from any location outside the building or area of such establishment. This provision shall apply to any display, decoration, sign, show window, or other opening. No exterior door or window on the premises shall be propped or kept open at any time while the business is open, and any exterior windows shall be covered with opaque covering at all times.

(Ord. 41-2005 § 3, eff. 1-14-2006; Ord. 7-2009 § 3, eff. 5-1-2009)

The building entrance to an adult-oriented business shall be clearly and legibly posted with a notice indicating that persons under eighteen (18) years of age are precluded from entering the premises. Such notice shall be constructed and posted to the satisfaction of the Community Development Director or his or her designee.

(Ord. 41-2005 § 3, eff. 1-14-2006; Ord. 7-2009 § 3, eff. 5-1-2009; Ord. 24-2015 § 3 (Exh. A), eff. 2-12-2016; Ord. 13-2025 § 3 (Exh. F), eff. 7-25-2025)

All indoor areas of the adult-oriented business where patrons or members of the public are permitted, excluding rest rooms and nonpublic areas of adult motels, shall be open to view by management at all times.

(Ord. 41-2005 § 3, eff. 1-14-2006; Ord. 7-2009 § 3, eff. 5-1-2009)

The premises and grounds of all adult-oriented businesses shall comply with the following:

A. Maximum occupancy load, fire exits, aisles, parking and fire equipment shall be regulated, designed and provided in accordance with the Cosumnes Community Services District Fire Department and building regulations and standards adopted by the City.

B. The premises within which the adult-oriented business is located shall provide sufficient soundabsorbing insulation so that noise generated inside the premises shall not be audible anywhere on any adjacent property or public right-of-way or within any other building or other separate unit within the same building.

C. All interior areas of the adult-oriented business shall be illuminated at a minimum of the following foot-candles, minimally maintained and evenly distributed at ground level:

1. Adult bookstores: twenty (20 fc) foot-candles;

2. Adult theaters, adult motion picture theaters and adult cabarets: five (5 fc) foot-candles (except during performances, at which times lighting shall be at least one and one quarter (1.25 fc) foot-candles);

3. Adult arcades: ten (10 fc) foot-candles;

4. Adult motels: twenty (20 fc) foot-candles (in public areas);

5. Nude model studios: twenty (20 fc) foot-candles.

D. All off-street parking areas and premises entries of the adult-oriented business shall be illuminated from dusk to closing hours of operation with a lighting system which provides an average maintained horizontal illumination of at least one (1 fc) foot-candle of light on the parking surface and/or walkways. The required lighting level is established in order to provide sufficient illumination of the parking areas and walkways serving the adult-oriented business for the personal safety of patrons and employees and to reduce the incidence of vandalism and criminal conduct. The lighting shall be shown on the required sketch or diagram of the premises.

E. The exterior of the adult-oriented business shall be equipped with a security system that visually records and monitors all off-street parking areas provided for the adult-oriented business during all times that the business is open or occupied for business.

1. The surveillance equipment utilized shall provide continuous recording for at least a twenty-four (24) hour period, with all recording maintained for a minimum of seventy-two (72) hours.

2. Immediately upon request, the surveillance recording for all or any portion of the previous seventy-two (72) hour period shall be made available to the Chief of Police, or his or her designated representative. Such recordings shall be utilized only for purposes of investigation of an alleged violation of a local, State or Federal law, or the enforcement thereof. Except as necessary to enforce a local, State or Federal law, the City deems confidential the surveillance recordings required by this chapter and all information contained therein. Absent an order from a court of competent jurisdiction, the City shall not disclose for public review the surveillance recordings or the information contained therein.

3. Signs shall be posted in the parking area, near the entrances to the premises, and at a conspicuous location inside the premises in such a manner as to notify the public that the exterior of the premises is subject to recorded surveillance.

F. The exterior portions of the building shall be painted in a single achromatic color unless the adult-oriented business is a part of a commercial multi-unit center and the exterior portions of each individual unit in the commercial center, including the exterior portion of the business, are painted the same color as one another or are painted in such a way as to be a component of the overall architectural style or pattern of the commercial multi-unit center. Nothing in this provision shall be construed to require the painting of an otherwise unpainted exterior portion of an adult-oriented business.

G. No exterior signage shall contain photographs, silhouettes, drawings, images or pictorial representations in any manner depicting or making linguistic reference to nudity, specified anatomical areas, specified sexual activity, or any device or paraphernalia designed for use in connection with specified sexual activity.

(Ord. 41-2005 § 3, eff. 1-14-2006; Ord. 7-2009 § 3, eff. 5-1-2009)

An adult-oriented business shall be open for business only between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 12:00 a.m./midnight on any particular day.

(Ord. 41-2005 § 3, eff. 1-14-2006; Ord. 7-2009 § 3, eff. 5-1-2009)

Adult-oriented businesses shall employ off-duty law enforcement officers or security guards in order to maintain the public peace and safety, based upon the following standards:

A. Adult-oriented businesses shall provide at least one (1) officer or security guard at all times while the business is open. If the occupancy limit of the adult-oriented business is greater than thirty-five (35) persons, an additional officer or security guard shall be on duty.

B. Officers or security guards shall be charged with preventing violations of law and enforcing compliance by patrons with the requirements of these regulations. Officers and security guards shall be uniformed in such a manner so as to be readily identifiable as a security guard by the public and shall be duly licensed as an officer or security guard as required by applicable provisions of State law. No officer or security guard required pursuant to this chapter shall act as a door person, ticket seller, ticket taker, admittance person, entertainer or performer, or sole occupant of the manager’s station while acting as a security guard.

C. Officers and security guards shall report any violation of law immediately to the responsible manager on the premises at the time the violation or threatened violation occurs, and shall prepare a written report outlining the violation or threatened violation observed. Copies of all written reports required by this chapter shall be maintained on the premises and shall be available for inspection by law enforcement personnel at all times during regular business hours.

(Ord. 41-2005 § 3, eff. 1-14-2006; Ord. 7-2009 § 3, eff. 5-1-2009)

Every licensee of an adult-oriented business that provides live entertainment depicting specified anatomical areas or involving specified sexual activities must maintain a register of all past and current persons so performing at the adult-oriented business and their permit numbers. Such register shall be available for inspection during regular business hours by any Police Officer of the City.

(Ord. 41-2005 § 3, eff. 1-14-2006; Ord. 7-2009 § 3, eff. 5-1-2009)

A. When the Chief of Police, the Community Development Director, and/or Code Enforcement Officers have reasonable cause to believe that violations of this title and/or other provisions of the Zoning Code are occurring on the premises where an adult-oriented business is operating, they, and/or their authorized representatives, may conduct a reasonable inspection of the public areas of and areas otherwise open to plain view on or within the premises of the adult-oriented business to the extent allowed by law and during the business hours of the adult-oriented business.

B. It is a violation of this chapter for a person who operates an adult-oriented business or that person’s agent or employee to refuse to permit such lawful inspection of the adult-oriented business at any time it is open for business.

(Ord. 41-2005 § 3, eff. 1-14-2006; Ord. 7-2009 § 3, eff. 5-1-2009; Ord. 24-2015 § 3 (Exh. A), eff. 2-12-2016; Ord. 13-2025 § 3 (Exh. F), eff. 7-25-2025)

The adult-oriented business shall provide and maintain separate restroom facilities for male patrons and employees, and female patrons and employees. Male patrons and employees shall be prohibited from using the restroom(s) for females, except to carry out duties of repair, maintenance and cleaning of the restroom facilities. Female patrons and employees shall be prohibited from using the restroom(s) for males, except to carry out duties of repair, maintenance and cleaning of the restroom facilities. The restrooms shall be free from any adult material as defined in EGMC Section 4.31.050(B)(1) and (2). Restrooms shall not contain television monitors or other motion picture or video projection, recording, or reproduction equipment. The foregoing provisions of this section shall not apply to an adult-oriented business which deals exclusively with the sale or rental of adult material which is not used or consumed on the premises, such as an adult bookstore or adult video store, and which does not provide restroom facilities to its patrons or the general public.

(Ord. 41-2005 § 3, eff. 1-14-2006; Ord. 7-2009 § 3, eff. 5-1-2009)

The following additional requirements shall pertain to adult-oriented businesses providing live entertainment distinguished or characterized by the depiction, description, showing or simulation of specified anatomical areas or involving specified sexual activities, except for businesses regulated by the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control.

A. No person shall perform live entertainment for patrons of an adult-oriented business except upon a stage at least eighteen (18") inches above the level of the floor which is separated by a distance of at least six (6' 0") feet from the nearest area occupied by patrons. Fixed rail(s) at least thirty (30") inches in height shall be maintained establishing the separations between performers and patrons required by this chapter. “Performer” shall mean any person who is an employee or independent contractor of the adult-oriented business, or any person who, with or without compensation or other form of consideration, performs live entertainment for patrons of an adult-oriented business.

B. The adult-oriented business shall provide separate dressing room facilities for performers, which are exclusively dedicated to the performers’ use.

C. The adult-oriented business shall provide an entrance/exit for performers which is separate from the entrance/exit used by patrons.

D. The adult-oriented business shall provide access for performers between the stage and the dressing rooms which is completely separated from the patrons. If such separate access is not physically feasible, the adult-oriented business shall provide a minimum three (3' 0") foot wide aisle for performers between the dressing room area and the stage, with a railing, fence or other barrier separating the patrons and the performers capable of (and which actually results in) preventing any physical contact between patrons and performers.

E. No performers, either before, during, or after performances, shall have physical contact with any patron and no patron shall have physical contact with any performer either before, during or after performances by such performer. This subsection shall only apply to physical contact anywhere on or within the premises of the adult-oriented business, including off-street parking areas.

F. No patron shall directly pay or give any gratuity to any performer and no performer shall solicit any pay or accept gratuity from any patron.

G. No owner or other person with managerial control over an adult-oriented business shall permit any person on the premises of the adult-oriented business to engage in a live showing of the human male or female genitals, pubic area, or buttocks with less than a fully opaque coverage, and/or the female breast with less than a fully opaque coverage over any part of the nipple or areola and/or covered male genitals in a discernibly turgid state. This subsection may not be complied with by applying an opaque covering simulating the appearance of the specified anatomical part required to be covered.

(Ord. 41-2005 § 3, eff. 1-14-2006; Ord. 7-2009 § 3, eff. 5-1-2009)

A. Evidence that a sleeping room in a hotel, motel, or a similar commercial establishment has been rented and vacated two (2) or more times in a period of time that is less than ten (10) hours creates a rebuttable presumption that the establishment is an adult motel.

B. It is a violation of this chapter for a person in control of a sleeping room in a hotel, motel, or similar commercial establishment that does not have an adult-oriented business license to rent or subrent the same sleeping room to another person more than two (2) times in a period of time that is less than ten (10) hours.

C. For purposes of subsections (A) and (B) of this section, the terms “rent” or “subrent” mean the act of permitting a room to be occupied for any form of consideration.

(Ord. 41-2005 § 3, eff. 1-14-2006; Ord. 7-2009 § 3, eff. 5-1-2009)

A person who operates or causes to be operated an adult-oriented business, including an adult arcade and other than an adult motel, which exhibits on the premises in a viewing room of less than one hundred fifty (150 ft2) square feet of floor space, a film, video cassette, live entertainment or other video reproduction which depicts specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas, shall comply with the following requirements:

A. Upon application for an adult-oriented business license, the application shall be accompanied by a diagram of the premises showing a plan thereof specifying the location of one (1) or more manager’s stations and the location of all overhead lighting fixtures and designating any portion of the premises in which patrons will not be permitted. A manager’s station may not exceed thirty-two (32 ft2) square feet of floor area. The diagram shall also designate the place at which the license will be conspicuously posted, if granted. A professionally prepared diagram in the nature of an engineer’s or architect’s blueprint shall not be required; however, each diagram should be oriented to the north or to some designated street or object and should be drawn to a designated scale or with marked dimensions sufficient to show the various internal dimensions of all areas of the interior of premises to an accuracy of plus or minus six (6") inches. The Chief of Police may waive the foregoing diagram for renewal applications if the applicant adopts a diagram that was previously submitted and certifies that the configuration of the premises has not been altered since it was first prepared.

B. No alteration in the configuration or location of a manager’s station may be made without the prior written approval of the Chief of Police.

C. It is the duty of the licensee of the adult-oriented business to ensure that at least one (1) properly permitted employee is on duty and situated in each manager’s station at all times that any patron is present inside the adult-oriented business.

D. The interior of the adult-oriented business shall be configured in such a manner that there is an unobstructed view from a manager’s station of every area of the adult-oriented business to which any patron is permitted access for any purpose, excluding restrooms. Restrooms may not contain video viewing equipment. If the adult-oriented business has two (2) or more designated manager’s stations, then the interior of the premises shall be configured in such a manner that there is an unobstructed view of each area of the adult-oriented business to which any patron is permitted access for any purpose from at least one (1) of the manager’s stations. The view required by this section must be by direct line of sight from the manager’s station.

E. It shall be the duty of the licensee to ensure that the view area specified in this section remains unobstructed at all times by any doors, curtains, partitions, walls, merchandise, display racks or other materials.

F. It shall be the duty of the licensee to ensure that no patron is permitted access to any area of the adult-oriented business which has been designated as an area in which patrons will not be permitted pursuant to subsection (A) of this section.

G. No viewing room may be occupied by more than one (1) person at any time.

H. No viewing room shall have any door, curtain, shutter, or any other device blocking or capable of blocking, wholly or partially, the entrance to the viewing booth.

I. The adult-oriented business shall be equipped with overhead lighting fixtures of sufficient intensity to illuminate every place to which patrons are permitted access at an illumination of not less than five (5 fc) foot-candles as measured at the floor level.

J. It shall be the duty of the licensee to ensure that the illumination required by this section is maintained at all times that any patron is present in the premises.

K. No openings of any kind shall exist between viewing rooms or booths.

L. No person shall make or attempt to make an opening of any kind between viewing booths or rooms.

M. The licensee shall, during each business day, regularly inspect the walls between the viewing booths to determine if any openings or holes exist.

N. The licensee shall cause all floor coverings in viewing booths to be nonporous, easily cleanable surfaces, with no rugs or carpeting.

O. The licensee shall cause all wall surfaces and ceiling surfaces in viewing booths to be constructed of, or permanently covered by, nonporous, easily cleanable material. No wood, plywood, composition board or other porous material shall be used within forty-eight (48") inches of the floor.

P. The floors, seats, walls, and other interior portions of all video booths shall be maintained clean and free from waste and bodily secretions. Presence of human excrement, urine, semen, or saliva in any such booths shall be evidence of improper maintenance and inadequate sanitary controls.

Q. Customers, patrons, or visitors shall not be allowed to loiter in the vicinity of any such video booths, or remain in the common area of such adult-oriented business, other than the restrooms, unless actively engaged in shopping for or reviewing the products available or on display for purchaser viewing. Signs prohibiting loitering shall be posted in prominent places in and near the video booths.

R. It is a violation of this chapter for a person having a duty under this section to knowingly fail to fulfill that duty.

(Ord. 41-2005 § 3, eff. 1-14-2006; Ord. 7-2009 § 3, eff. 5-1-2009)

A. A nude model studio shall not employ any person under the age of eighteen (18) years.

B. It is a violation of this chapter for a person under the age of eighteen (18) years to appear seminude or in a state of nudity in or on the premises of a nude model studio. It is a defense to prosecution under this section if the person under eighteen (18) years was in a restroom not open to public view or visible to any other person.

C. A nude model studio shall not place or permit a bed, sofa, or mattress in any room on the premises, except that a sofa may be placed in a reception room open to the public.

(Ord. 41-2005 § 3, eff. 1-14-2006; Ord. 7-2009 § 3, eff. 5-1-2009)

A. It is a violation of this chapter for a person knowingly and intentionally, in a public area of an adult-oriented business (except a restroom), to appear in a state of nudity;

B. It is a violation of this chapter for a person knowingly and intentionally, in an adult-oriented business, to engage in or perform the following specified sexual activities:

1. Actual sex acts, normal or perverted, consisting of intercourse, oral copulation or sodomy;

2. Actual masturbation; and/or

3. Excretory functions as part of or in connection with any of the activities described in subsections (B)(1) or (2) of this section or as part of or in connection with the fondling or other erotic touching of human genitals, pubic area, buttocks, anus, or female breast.

C. It is a violation of this chapter for a person knowingly or intentionally, in a public area of an adult-oriented business, to appear in a semi-nude condition unless the person is an employee or performer who, while semi-nude, is upon a stage at least eighteen (18") inches above the level of the floor which is separated by a distance of at least six (6' 0") feet from the nearest areas occupied by patrons.

D. It is a violation of this chapter for an employee or performer, while semi-nude in an adult-oriented business, to solicit any pay or gratuity from any patron or customer or for any patron or customer to pay or give any gratuity to any employee or performer in an adult-oriented business.

E. It is a violation of this chapter for an employee or performer, in an adult-oriented business, while semi-nude, to knowingly and intentionally touch a patron or customer or the clothing of a patron or customer.

(Ord. 41-2005 § 3, eff. 1-14-2006; Ord. 7-2009 § 3, eff. 5-1-2009)

A sexual encounter center is not a permitted use.

(Ord. 41-2005 § 3, eff. 1-14-2006; Ord. 7-2009 § 3, eff. 5-1-2009)