Littleton, CO Cannabis Regulations: Buffer Zones (2026)

Section 3-20-17 requires the licensing authority to confirm a proposed medical marijuana center's location before any license issues, and failure to comply with the section's requirements precludes issuance of a license. The buffers are measured from the nearest property line to the nearest wall of the marijuana center building in a straight line, counting locations outside city limits: 500 feet from a licensed childcare facility; 1,000 feet from any educational institution, school, college or university; 1,000 feet from any public park, public pool, or public or private recreational facility; 1,000 feet from any halfway house or correctional facility; and 1,000 feet from any other medical marijuana center.

A center also may not sit within any building or structure that contains a residential unit. Section 3-21-20 applies the identical set of buffers to retail marijuana stores. Littleton's retail market is unusually narrow: under section 3-21-2, only the three medical marijuana center licensees operating as of November 3, 2020 may apply for a retail marijuana store license, and their existing locations are deemed to be in conformance with all buffering requirements. No new retail marijuana store may open at a new address in the city; the license track exists solely to let those three sites add retail sales alongside their medical operations.

Site suitability under section 3-20-17(C) is locked in at the time the first license issues, so a school or park that later opens nearby does not retroactively force a center to close or relocate.