Madera, CA Cannabis Regulations: Buffer Zones (2026)

33 sets the siting rule that decides where a permitted business can actually open. Subsection (B)(1) bars any cannabis business from locating within 600 feet of a parcel the city has zoned as a sensitive use under state law, with the distance run as a straight horizontal line from the sensitive parcel's property line to the nearest property line of the cannabis site. Subsection (B)(2) applies the same 600-foot separation to any parcel holding a K-12 school (public, private or charter, including pre-school and transitional kindergarten), a state-, county- or city-licensed commercial daycare center, or an existing youth center, unless the licensing authority or the city itself sets a wider radius.

33 together, so the buffer check happens before a permit is ever issued, not after. Subsection (C) carves out six named exceptions where the buffer does not apply: the Fresno River, Rotary Park, Courthouse Park, Wells Center (including its community garden and Centennial Park), Frank Bergon Center, Lions Town and Country Community Park, the Madera County Fairgrounds, the Madera Municipal Golf Course, the Madera County Library, and the Madera Downtown Business Improvement Area. Because the exempted list includes parks and the county fairgrounds, a site that would otherwise fail the sensitive-use buffer can still qualify if it falls only within one of those carved-out areas. This siting rule sits on top of, not instead of, the zoning and building standards a cannabis business must otherwise meet under Title X.