Commerce City, CO Cannabis Regulations: Buffer Zones (2026)

Section 21-5249 of the Land Development Code sets seven separate 1,000-foot buffers that apply to every marijuana business type and every primary caregiver location, not just retail stores. A marijuana business cannot open within 1,000 feet of any public or private educational institution below the post-secondary level, any state-licensed child-care facility, any alcohol or drug rehabilitation facility, any group home, any halfway house or correctional facility, any city-owned public park or recreation center (trails are excluded from the park definition), or any other marijuana business of any type.

These general restrictions stack on top of separate residential-proximity buffers in subsection (1)(b) and the 2,000-foot store-to-store spacing rule in subsection (1)(c). The location restrictions apply only at initial licensing: subsection (1)(d) lets an already-licensed marijuana business keep operating if a protected use, such as a school or park, later moves within its buffer, treating the business as a lawful pre-existing use. Advertising for every marijuana business must also comply with Part 2 of Article 10 of Title 44 of the Colorado Revised Statutes, and no permanent or temporary sign may go up without city sign-permit review, per subsection (2).

Storage of marijuana off-site without a permit, marijuana hospitality and retail hospitality, membership clubs, home-occupation marijuana businesses, marijuana businesses inside a mixed-use development containing a residence, and marijuana vapor lounges are prohibited citywide under subsection (3). The Community Development Department administers zoning compliance for these buffers alongside the city's marijuana licensing authority.