Kendall County, IL Cannabis Regulations: Buffer Zones (2026)

Kendall County Code Section 36-282(2) sets three separate 1,000-foot buffers for an adult-use cannabis craft grower operating as a special use in the A-1 Agricultural District, the zoning classification that covers most unincorporated farmland outside Oswego, Yorkville, Plano and the other cities and villages that zone their own limits. The first buffer runs from any preexisting public or private nursery school, preschool, primary or secondary school, day care center, day care home or residential care home; the code carves out learning centers and vocational or trade centers, which do not count as a school for this measurement.

The second buffer keeps the facility 1,000 feet from any preexisting residentially zoned or used property, unless that residential use is owned by the same person who owns the craft grower. The third buffer covers preexisting forest preserves, public parks, places of worship, public libraries and game arcades open to persons under 21. All three distances run from the cannabis use itself to the property line of the protected use, not from a building. The Planning, Building and Zoning Department reviews the special use petition, which must include a site design, security plan, parking and traffic analysis, and the County Sheriff's Office gets access to the security system on request.

A different craft-grower distance, and different distances for cultivation centers, infusers and dispensaries, apply under neighboring code subsections, so a specific project must be checked against its own use category before siting.