Navajo County, AZ Cannabis Regulations: Buffer Zones (2026)
Key Facts
- Buffer distance
- 1,500 feet
- Protected uses
- Churches, schools, day cares, parks, other dispensaries, AOBs
- Measurement
- Straight line, closest exterior walls, ignores boundaries
- Grandfather clause
- Existing dispensary unaffected by later nearby use
- Offsite cultivation
- Must tie exclusively to one Navajo County dispensary
Summary
In unincorporated Navajo County, Arizona (outside tribal land and the six incorporated towns), Section 1102 keeps a marijuana dispensary or its offsite cultivation location 1,500 feet from any other dispensary, church, school, day care, park, playground or adult oriented business, measured straight-line between the closest exterior walls.
2. Marijuana dispensaries or marijuana dispensary offsite cultivation locations shall not be located within 1,500 feet of any other marijuana dispensary or marijuana dispensary offsite location. A marijuana offsite cultivation location shall be associated exclusively with a marijuana dispensary (or dispensaries), located in Navajo County and approved pursuant to this Article. 3. Marijuana dispensaries and marijuana offsite cultivation locations shall not be located within 1,500 feet of: a. A church. b. A public or private elementary or secondary school. c. A public or private day care center, preschool, nursery, kindergarten, or similar use. d. A public park, playground, or public recreational facility. e. An adult oriented business.
Full Breakdown
2 sets the core spacing rule: a marijuana dispensary or its offsite cultivation location cannot sit within 1,500 feet of any other dispensary or offsite cultivation site, and an offsite cultivation location must stay tied exclusively to a dispensary approved under this Article and located in Navajo County. 3 extends the same 1,500-foot buffer to five more protected uses: a church, a public or private elementary or secondary school, a public or private day care center, preschool, nursery or kindergarten, a public park, playground or recreational facility, and an adult oriented business.
4 fixes how every one of those distances is measured: a straight line from the closest exterior walls of the affected structures, ignoring intervening buildings, objects, or political boundaries, so a school just across the line in Holbrook, Show Low or on the Navajo Nation still counts against a county dispensary site. 5 protects an already-approved dispensary or cultivation location: it is not placed in violation merely because a church, school, day care, park or adult oriented business opens nearby afterward. 6 closes the Article by clarifying that county zoning approval never excuses a dispensary from any other law that would otherwise prohibit or punish the activity.
Violations & Fines
Locating a dispensary or cultivation site inside the 1,500-foot buffer is a zoning violation a Code Enforcement Officer can cite under Section 2103, with unresolved cases referred to the County Attorney's Office under Section 2105. The Zoning Hearing Officer, seated under A.R.S. §§ 11-815 and 11-866, can assess civil penalties, and Section 2107.2 blocks further county permits for the parcel until the buffer violation is cured.
Frequently Asked Questions
How far must a dispensary stay from a school or church?
Do two dispensaries have to keep their own distance from each other?
Does a new park built nearby force an existing dispensary to close?
Can a dispensary's cultivation site supply more than one dispensary?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Navajo County
Compare Navajo County to another location·View the Arizona cannabis regulations overview
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