Olympia, WA Cannabis Regulations: Buffer Zones (2026)

Olympia Municipal Code § 18.51.040(C)(1)(ii), adopted by the Olympia City Council in Thurston County, sets two buffer tiers for state-licensed marijuana retailers. The first tier is 500 feet, measured from the perimeter of the grounds of a recreation center or facility, a child care center, a public park, a public transit center, or a library. The same 500 feet applies to any game arcade whose admission is not restricted to persons aged twenty-one (21) years or older, so an arcade that admits only adults 21 and over does not trigger the buffer.

The second tier is 1,000 feet. The code carves out elementary schools, secondary schools and playgrounds from the 500 foot rule and keeps the distance for those uses at one thousand (1,000) feet. Both distances run from the perimeter of the grounds, not from a building wall, which matters for a campus or park with a large lot.

The buffer is only one layer. Under § 18.51.040(C)(1)(i) a retailer must also sit in the HCD3, HDC4, MS or GC zone as the code prints it, and under (C)(1)(iv) it needs a conditional use permit approved by the Hearing Examiner pursuant to OMC 18.70.180. A site that clears the buffer still has to be in a listed zone. The purpose clause in § 18.51.020 says the regulations exist to mitigate potential impacts on nearby properties of marijuana producers, processors, or retailers licensed or to be licensed by the State of Washington Liquor and Cannabis Board, and to promote public health, safety, and welfare.

The buffer text speaks only to retailers. Producers and processors are handled in a separate subsection that ties them to a light industrial zone and a conditional use permit, and that subsection prints no distance rule. Section 18.51.010 adds that nothing in chapter 18.51 supersedes Washington State or federal law on the acquisition, possession, manufacture, sale or use of marijuana, so the city buffer sits on top of the state licensing rules rather than replacing them.