Palm Desert, CA Cannabis Regulations: Buffer Zones (2026)

Subsection D.2 of § 25.34.120 sets two kinds of separation. The first protects sensitive uses: no conditional use permit is issued for a commercial cannabis business within 1,000 feet of a school providing instruction in kindergarten or any grades 1 through 12, a daycare center or a youth center that exists when the license is issued. The code's definitions make these terms concrete. A daycare center is any child day care facility other than a family day care home and includes infant centers, preschools, extended day care facilities and school-age child care centers. A youth center is a public or private facility primarily used to host recreational or social activities for minors, including private youth membership organizations, teenage club facilities and video arcades.

The second keeps cannabis businesses apart. A storefront retailer cannot be located within 1,500 feet of another approved commercial cannabis business, and a cannabis business in the Service Industrial zoning district must be 1,500 feet from another approved cannabis business. No more than three cannabis retailers can operate on a single street.

Distances run from the outer extents of the business's lease space to the outer extents of another commercial cannabis business's lease space, or to the property line of a school, daycare center or youth center. That is a lease-space measurement, not a parcel-to-parcel measurement. The separation list names no parks, so a park does not trigger a buffer under this subsection. Personal outdoor cultivation has its own distance: subsection F.1.d prohibits outdoor cultivation within 600 feet of a school, daycare center or youth center. These rules apply in the City of Palm Desert only, not in Rancho Mirage, Indian Wells, La Quinta, Cathedral City or unincorporated Riverside County.