Franklin County, KY Cannabis Regulations: Buffer Zones (2026)

The buffer lives inside a definition rather than a standalone section. Franklin County Code § 155.010 defines CANNABIS BUSINESS as an entity licensed under KRS 218B as a cultivator, dispensary, processor, producer, or safety compliance facility, and then adds that such licensed businesses shall not be located within 1,000 feet of an existing elementary or secondary school or a daycare center. Because the sentence sits in the definition, it follows the business type everywhere the zoning chapter uses the term, including the medicinal cannabis rows of the use table in § 155.085.

Two details matter for anyone checking a site. First, the code names only schools (elementary or secondary) and day care centers. It does not print a distance from parks, churches, or colleges. Second, the day care trigger is wider than a commercial center: § 155.010 defines DAY CARE CENTERS as any facility, including a home or dwelling unit, that regularly provides care for four or more children away from the child's own home, and the operator's own children count toward that total of four. A home day care that meets that count is therefore a protected use for the 1,000 foot rule. The rule also speaks of an existing school or day care, so the comparison is made against what is already operating.

The code as printed gives the distance but no measuring method, such as property line to property line, so ask the Frankfort-Franklin County Planning and Community Development office how it measures before signing a lease. The Planning Director or Zoning Enforcement Officer administers Chapter 155 under § 155.025, investigates complaints, notifies the responsible person in writing of the violation, and orders discontinuance of an illegal use. A separate county rule, § 155.085, decides which zoning districts allow each cannabis license type, so clearing the buffer is only one of two zoning tests. The Franklin County Board of Zoning Adjustments hears conditional uses and appeals under the same chapter. The county code applies outside the City of Frankfort, which has its own code.