Olmsted County, MN Cannabis Regulations: Buffer Zones (2026)

Section 10.54.A sets Olmsted County's cannabis buffer distances for unincorporated territory. The ordinance measures 1,000 feet from 'any educational institution or school, college or university, as defined in Section 2152.07 the Olmsted County Public Ordinance Regulating the Use of Cannabis and Cannabis Derived Products in Public Places,' the longest buffer in the section. The remaining buffers are set at 500 feet: from 'a licensed day care facility,' from 'a residential treatment facility,' and from 'a public park, or playground that is regularly used by minors including a playground or athletic field.' These distances apply to any cannabis business, a term the section pairs explicitly with cultivation, meaning a cannabis retailer, cultivator, microbusiness or any other licensed cannabis operation in the county's Interim Use districts has to clear every one of these buffers before the county will issue Interim Use approval under Section 4.02.

The buffers stack with the separate rule barring any cannabis business from county-owned property outright, and with the district limits in Section 10.54.B confining cultivation to A-1, A-2 and A-3 Agricultural zoning. Because the buffer runs from the protected use's property line rather than a building entrance, an applicant needs a site survey measuring to the nearest park, day care, treatment facility or school boundary before applying, and the Zoning Administrator checks that distance as part of Interim Use review rather than leaving it to self-certification.