Chelan County, WA Cannabis Regulations: Buffer Zones (2026)
Key Facts
- School/park buffer
- 1,000 feet from schools, parks, libraries, arcades
- Outdoor grow buffer
- 1,500 feet from neighboring property lines
- Reduced outdoor buffer floor
- 1,000 feet minimum, hearing examiner variance only
- Indoor buffer (RR20/RR10/AC)
- 100 feet, reducible to 30 feet by variance
- Governing code
- Chelan County Code Section 11.100.040
- Enforcing agency
- Department of Community Development
Summary
In unincorporated Chelan County, no state-licensed cannabis producer, processor or retailer may locate within 1,000 feet of any elementary or secondary school, playground, recreation center, child care center, public park, public transit center, library, or game arcade not restricted to adults 21 and over. Outdoor cannabis production carries a separate 1,500-foot buffer from the nearest property line not owned by the licensee. The Department of Community Development enforces both distances under Chelan County Code Section 11.100.040, measuring the shortest straight-line distance between property lines.
No cannabis licensees (producer, processor or retail) shall be located within one thousand feet of the perimeter of the grounds of any elementary or secondary school, playground, recreation center or facility, child care center, public park, public transit center, or library, or any game arcade (where admission is not restricted to persons aged twenty-one years or older). The distance shall be measured as the shortest straight line distance from the property line of the cannabis licensee location to the property line of the entities. ... Outdoor cannabis production (and associated processing) ... shall be at least one thousand five hundred feet from the facility perimeter to the nearest property line not owned by the licensee for each specific licensed operation.
Full Breakdown
040 sets the buffers that apply to every state-licensed cannabis producer, processor and retailer in the unincorporated county. The 1,000-foot school and park buffer is measured as the shortest straight-line distance from the cannabis licensee's property line to the property line of the protected use, and it applies countywide regardless of zone. 020(4); in the Rural Residential/Resource 20, Rural Residential/Resource 10 and Commercial Agricultural Lands zones, indoor operations must keep a 100-foot buffer from all property lines, measured from the building foundation. 95, but never below 30 feet, and video surveillance aimed at a neighboring property is barred regardless of any reduction.
Outdoor production, allowed only in the RR20 zone, must sit at least 1,500 feet from any property line not owned by the licensee; the hearing examiner may cut that to a floor of 1,000 feet only if the applicant proves no habitable structure sits inside the reduced buffer. Operations on legal lots recorded and actually operating before September 29, 2015 may count neighboring lots toward the outdoor buffer if every abutting owner consents in writing and no residence sits within the buffer area. 95 variance path applies.
Violations & Fines
A cannabis license issued under Chapter 11.100 runs through a conditional use permit, and Section 11.100.050 makes that permit immediately revocable for noncompliance with any buffer requirement, permit condition, or the chapter itself, under the revocation procedure in Chapter 16.14. Independent of permit revocation, Chelan County's general code enforcement chapter authorizes a notice and order followed by civil fines of $750 for a first violation and $1,500 for a repeat violation under Section 16.16.010, with unpaid penalties collectible as a lien against the property under Chapter 16.18.
Frequently Asked Questions
How close can a cannabis business be to a school in unincorporated Chelan County?
Can an outdoor cannabis grow's 1,500-foot buffer be reduced?
Does the buffer apply to cannabis retail stores too?
What happens if a cannabis operation violates its buffer?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Chelan County
Compare Chelan County to another location·View the Washington cannabis regulations overview
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