Phoenix, AZ Cannabis Regulations: Buffer Zones (2026)
Key Facts
- School/park buffer
- 1,320 feet
- Place of worship buffer
- 1,320 feet
- Dispensary-to-dispensary buffer
- 5,280 feet
- Residential district buffer
- 500 feet
- Permit type
- Use permit, reviewed annually
Summary
Phoenix requires nonprofit medical marijuana dispensaries to sit at least 1,320 feet from schools, parks, community centers and places of worship citywide.
Shall not be located within 1,320 feet of a preschool, kindergarten, elementary, secondary or high school, public park, public community center, dependent care facility, homeless shelter, or youth community center. This distance shall be measured from the exterior walls of the building or portion thereof in which the dispensary business is conducted or proposed to be conducted to the property line of the protected use.
Official source re-checked September 8, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: current through Ordinance G-7524, passed June 17, 2026).
Full Breakdown
Under the Zoning Ordinance's Commercial C-2 District use list, a nonprofit medical marijuana dispensary facility needs a use permit and must clear a 1,320-foot buffer from any preschool, kindergarten, elementary, secondary or high school, public park, public community center, dependent care facility, homeless shelter, or youth community center: measured from the building's exterior wall to the protected use's property line. A separate 1,320-foot buffer applies to places of worship. The same use also can't sit within 5,280 feet of another dispensary, cultivation, or infusion facility, or within 500 feet of any residentially zoned district, and cultivation on-site is prohibited.
Violations & Fines
Zoning Administrator can deny or revoke the use permit for a dispensary sited inside the buffer; operating without a valid use permit is a zoning violation subject to city enforcement.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the 1,320-foot buffer apply to recreational dispensaries too?
How is the 1,320 feet measured?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Phoenix
Compare Phoenix to another location·View the Arizona cannabis regulations overview
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Buffer Zones in Nearby Cities
How other cities in Maricopa County handle buffer zones.