Newark, OH Cannabis Regulations: Buffer Zones (2026)

Newark's buffer rule sits in the zoning code, inside the chapter for the MB Medium Intensity Business District, not in a standalone cannabis chapter. Section 1260.04 lists two conditional uses. Subsection (a) covers medical marijuana dispensaries as defined at OAC 3796:1-1-01 (13), and subsection (b) covers adult use dispensaries as defined at R.C. § 3780.01(a)(5). Both carry the same two spacing tests. The first is 1,000 feet from a parcel of real estate having situated on it a school, church, public library, public playground, public park or community addiction services provider. The second is a two mile radius from another marijuana dispensary.

The Board of Zoning Appeals holds the only relief valve. It can issue a variance from the 1,000 feet restriction that reduces the distance by no more than 250 feet, and the variance comes with a conditional use permit. The section prints no variance for the two mile dispensary-to-dispensary radius. Vehicular drive-thru and curb-side service is prohibited for both kinds of dispensary.

A dispensary also has to be in full and complete compliance with the Ohio Revised Code and the Ohio Administrative Code, and with all applicable licensing and reporting requirements of the Codified Ordinances of the City of Newark, Ohio. The conditional use itself is decided under Section 1234.07(c), which gives the Board the power to hear and decide the application, requires due regard to the nature and condition of adjacent uses and structures, and lets the Board impose the requirements and conditions it deems appropriate for the protection of adjacent properties and the public interest. Under Section 1234.07(d), a grant becomes void if the use has not started within twelve months of the date of the permit, and a new application must then be filed.

The Section 1260.04 standards travel into other districts by cross-reference. The HB, GB, LC and GC chapters (Sections 1261.04(c), 1262.04(c), 1263.04(c) and 1264.04(c)) list dispensaries as conditional uses pursuant to the authority and limitations set forth at Section 1260.04, so the same distances apply there. The section's printed history lists Ordinance 08-33-A passed 5-4-09, Ordinance 17-43A passed 1-2-18 and Ordinance 24-18-A passed 9-16-24.