Spokane County, WA Cannabis Regulations: Buffer Zones (2026)
Key Facts
- Front setback minimum
- 100 feet
- Side/rear/flanking setback minimum
- 100 feet
- Neighbor residence setback
- 300 feet
- Setback reduction option
- Up to 50% via recorded waiver
- Indoor lot coverage cap
- 20% of lot
- Outdoor lot coverage cap
- Up to 50%, hearing examiner sets
- License required
- WSLCB producer license
Summary
Licensed marijuana production on Large Tract Agricultural, Small Tract Agricultural and Forest Lands parcels in unincorporated Spokane County must clear minimum buffers set by the hearing examiner: at least one hundred feet from front, side, rear or flanking property lines and three hundred feet from any neighbor's primary residence. Growers can shrink the residence and side/rear buffers up to fifty percent only with a notarized waiver from the affected neighbor recorded with the county auditor.
c.The hearing examiner shall determine the setback requirement based on site specific and operational characteristics (such as topography, canopy size, use of structures to enhance plant growth, use of odor control systems, use of temporary growing structures, ventilation system, etc.) and probable impacts to neighboring properties; but in no case shall setbacks be less than a minimum of one hundred feet from any front property line; one hundred feet from any side, flanking, or rear property line; and three hundred feet from any primary residence on an adjacent property. Minimum setback distances from any primary residence on an adjacent property and/or from the side, rear, or flanking property line may be reduced by up to fifty percent provided the effected property owner of record grants the reduced distance through a signed and notarized waiver, contract, covenant or other document is executed with specific reference to the assessor parcels impacted and a copy is recorded with the Spokane County Auditor.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 63).
Full Breakdown
230(11) governs outdoor and indoor marijuana production wherever it is allowed as a specific-standards use in the county's resource lands zones. ' Beyond the property-line and residence buffers in subsection (c), the hearing examiner sets the exact distance case by case using factors such as topography, canopy size, odor-control equipment and use of temporary growing structures, but the one-hundred-foot and three-hundred-foot figures are hard floors that cannot be waived away by discretion alone. 04, using environmental buffers, carbon-absorption media, vertical exhaust stacks, or fully enclosed and recirculated ventilation.
Lot coverage is separately capped at twenty percent of the lot for indoor production structures, and the hearing examiner sets an outdoor coverage limit that in no case may exceed fifty percent of the lot. Production is barred outright on lots smaller than the zone's minimum lot size, on nonconforming lots, and on lots inside a rural cluster development, regardless of setback compliance. Because the resource lands minimum lot sizes run from ten acres (Small Tract Agricultural) to forty acres (Large Tract Agricultural), the underlying zone effectively sets a second, larger buffer around any residential neighbor before a grow site even qualifies for review.
Violations & Fines
Growing without hearing-examiner approval, encroaching inside the one-hundred or three-hundred-foot buffers without a recorded neighbor waiver, or exceeding the twenty-percent indoor/fifty-percent outdoor lot-coverage caps is a zoning violation the county can enforce through the Building and Planning Department, including revocation of the conditional use approval. Because the code requires local compliance regardless of state licensing, a WSLCB-licensed grower operating outside these buffers still risks county code enforcement action and loss of the underlying land-use approval.
Frequently Asked Questions
How far must a marijuana grow be from my house in unincorporated Spokane County?
Can a neighbor agree to a smaller buffer?
Does a state marijuana license override county setback rules?
Is there a cap on how much of the lot can be used for growing?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Spokane County
Compare Spokane County to another location·View the Washington cannabis regulations overview
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