Charles County, MD Cannabis Regulations: Buffer Zones (2026)

Charles County Code § 297-212 sets separate but matching buffer standards for the two licensed cannabis uses recognized in the Zoning Regulations. 100, cannabis processing operations, must locate any processing structure at least 1,000 feet from the property line of a school, day-care facility, substance rehabilitation facility, or any other processing operation, and the site needs a Buffer Yard C to separate it from adjacent uses. 200, cannabis dispensary operations, carries the identical 1,000-foot buffer from schools, day-care facilities and substance rehabilitation facilities, but measures the fourth trigger against any other dispensary rather than another processing site, and it too requires a Buffer Yard C.

Both uses require the applicant or operator to obtain approval or preapproval of a license from the Maryland Cannabis Administration and to give the County documentation of a valid license before operations begin. Dispensaries are permitted in the BP, CC, CB, IG, IH and PEP Zones, and processing operations in the AC, BP, CC, CB, IG, IH and PEP Zones, together with buildings incidental to either use. The buffer runs from the property line of the cannabis structure to the property line of the protected use, so a site's setback survey has to measure to the neighboring parcel's boundary, not just to its building footprint.