Leon County, FL Cannabis Regulations: Buffer Zones (2026)
Key Facts
- Buffer distance
- 500 feet from any existing school
- Measured
- Property line to property line
- Multi-tenant buildings
- Measured from the leased space
- Dispensing facility waiver
- Available from board of adjustment
- Cultivating/processing waiver
- None stated in the code
- Schools covered
- Public and private, existing schools
Summary
Medical marijuana dispensing, cultivating, and processing facilities must sit at least 500 feet from any existing public or private school, measured property line to property line. Only the dispensing-facility buffer can be waived, and only by the board of adjustment and appeals on a health-safety-welfare finding.
(2)Medical marijuana dispensing facilities shall be located, at a minimum, 500 feet from any existing school (public or private). Measurements shall be made from the nearest property line of the school to the nearest property line of the medical marijuana dispensing facility. If the medical marijuana dispensing facility is located in a multi-tenant building, the distance shall be measured from the nearest property line of the school to the nearest area of the leasehold or other space actually controlled or occupied by the medical marijuana dispensing facility. Notwithstanding section 10-2.347, the board of adjustment and appeals may waive the 500-foot minimum distance requirement between medical marijuana dispensing facilities and schools (public and private) if the board of adjustment and appeals determines that the proposed location promotes the health, safety, and general welfare of the community.(3)Medical marijuana cultivating facilities and medical marijuana processing facilities shall be located, at a minimum, 500 feet away from any existing school (public or private).
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 12).
Full Breakdown
" If the facility sits in a multi-tenant building, the measurement instead runs to "the nearest area of the leasehold or other space actually controlled or occupied" by the dispensing use, so a shopping-center suite is measured from its own storefront, not the building's outer wall. 347," if the board finds the proposed location promotes health, safety, and general welfare. Subsection (c)(3) applies the same 500-foot, property-line-to-property-line measurement to medical marijuana cultivating and processing facilities, but the quoted text carries no equivalent waiver clause for those two facility types.
Applicants for any of the three facility types must submit, under subsection (d)(1), "maps and other data that support the requirement for 500-foot distance separation" as part of the permitted use verification review.
Violations & Fines
The code does not attach a fine to a buffer violation; instead, a facility that cannot demonstrate the 500-foot separation, or an approved waiver for a dispensing use, cannot obtain the permitted use verification certificate required under subsection (d) before opening. Without that certificate the site plan cannot be approved, so the practical consequence is that the county will not authorize the facility to operate at that location.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is the 500-foot school buffer for a marijuana dispensary measured?
Can Leon County waive the 500-foot buffer for a dispensary near a school?
Does the school buffer apply to marijuana cultivation and processing facilities too?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Leon County
Florida rules heatmap·Compare Leon County to another location·View the Florida cannabis regulations overview
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