Mason County, WA Cannabis Regulations: Buffer Zones (2026)

Mason County Code Section 17.17.005(c) sets the buffer standard for licensed marijuana producers and processors sited in rural residential districts: a one-hundred-foot setback from any portion of the production or processing operation to the nearest property line. The same subsection opens a path around that distance, a property owner can seek a variance under Mason County Code Chapter 15.05, Article IV, and the county will weigh a buffer of less than one hundred feet on an individual basis rather than granting it automatically. The buffer requirement pairs with two other Section 17.17.005 standards: all lighting used for production and processing must be shielded and downcast so it does not shine or glare past the parcel boundary, and any licensed producer sited in a rural residential 5 district needs a special use permit regardless of buffer compliance, as does any request to deviate from the chapter's rules under Chapter 17.05.

Section 17.17.006 adds a separate, physical screening rule for outdoor grows, requiring an eight-foot sight-obscuring wall or fence to keep the operation out of public view, on top of the security requirements in WAC 314-55-083. Because the one-hundred-foot figure is measured to the nearest property line rather than to a school, park or residence, a producer near a boundary shared with a neighboring rural residential lot faces the same buffer test as one near any other property line in the district.