Islip, NY Cannabis Regulations: Buffer Zones (2026)

Section 8-12 of the Town Code sets the site standards for state-licensed cannabis cultivation, processing and distribution facilities that Islip's 2021 retail opt-out doesn't reach. Subsection B supplies the buffer: 'A licensed cannabis premises shall not be located within 1,000 feet of a public or private school, residential use or zone, or house of worship. ' Because the measurement runs property line to property line and disregards intervening buildings, a facility can be disqualified even where a direct sightline or travel path would suggest a shorter or longer distance.

The buffer operates alongside the district limit in § 8-12(A), which confines these facilities to the Industrial One and Industrial Two Zoning Districts, and the quarter-mile separation required from any other cannabis cultivation, production, processing or distribution use. A site that clears the Industrial-district test can still fail the application if it falls inside the 1,000-foot school, residential or house-of-worship buffer, making the buffer an independent, additional screen the Division of Building checks before any cannabis-related permit or certificate of occupancy is issued. Facilities that do not meet the buffer are not permitted uses under Chapter 8, Article II and are subject to the civil penalties of § 8-14.