Linden, NJ Cannabis Regulations: Buffer Zones (2026)

Chapter 31, Zoning, § 31-51 sets a 500-foot buffer as one of a dozen conditions a cannabis business must satisfy in Linden. The buffer runs from any part of the lot to a public facility, park or athletic field, a public or private school, residential property, a preschool, a child-care center, a house of worship, or a behavioral health care or medical detoxification facility, and the City measures it along the street or highway on which the lot is located rather than in a straight line, so a site can sit closer than 500 feet as the crow flies and still comply if the street-measured distance clears the mark.

The buffer sits alongside a set of physical standards in the same section: a one-acre minimum lot size, building setbacks of 40 feet from the rear yard, 40 feet from each side yard and 30 feet from the front yard, a seven-foot security fence around any structure used for cultivation, manufacturing, storage or distribution, and round-the-clock video monitoring retained for at least 30 days. Odor control is mandatory too: cultivation and manufacturing facilities must filter and recirculate air so odors are not discernible by a reasonable person beyond the property line.

A cannabis business must first hold a license under Chapter 18 of the City Code before any of § 31-51's siting rules come into play; the buffer is a zoning-layer condition on top of that licensing requirement, not a substitute for it.