Chula Vista, CA Cannabis Regulations: Buffer Zones (2026)

CVMC 5.19.060(B)(3) sets the mandatory separation distances for a licensed Storefront Retailer premises within Chula Vista: 1,000 feet from any Day Care Center or public/private school serving kindergarten through grade 12, 600 feet from a Treatment Facility, Youth Center, Youth-Oriented Business, Public Park, or Private Park, and 150 feet from any Residential Zone. Section 5.19.060(E) spells out how those distances are measured, from the cannabis business's public entrance closest to a public street, along a continuous line to the closest property line, then along street frontages and across intersections by the shortest pedestrian route to the sensitive use's measuring point (a school, park, or zone's parcel boundary line abutting the street).

Where the two uses sit on the same or contiguous parcels, the distance runs in a straight line between their measuring points instead. The Development Services Director makes the final call on compliance and calculation, and can require an exhibit from a Licensed Land Surveyor before signing off, per 5.19.060(E)(3). The buffers differ by business type: Non-Storefront Retailers (delivery-only operations) and Manufacturers, Distributors, Testing Laboratories, and Cultivators face only the 150-foot residential buffer under 5.19.060(C)(2) and (D)(2), since those operations are closed to walk-in customers and confined to industrial zones.

A Phase Two License Application that cannot demonstrate compliance with these separation requirements is subject to rejection by the Development Services Director, Fire Chief, and Police Chief under CVMC 5.19.050(B)(5)(c), and no City License will issue for a noncompliant site. The City licenses only a capped number of Commercial Cannabis Businesses citywide under Chapter 5.19, so a site that fails the buffer test loses its shot at one of those limited slots.