Taunton, MA Cannabis Regulations: Buffer Zones (2026)

Section 440-604 sits in Article VI, Intensity of Use Regulations, within Chapter 440, the City's Zoning Ordinance, adopted under the authority of the state Zoning Act, MGL c. 40A (§ 440-102). The Council added the buffer on October 2, 2018, as marijuana retail licensing expanded statewide. The rule is narrow: it only spaces retailer from retailer, measured on a straight line between the two closest points of the two parcels, not between a retailer and any school, park, playground or residential use. Taunton's zoning code contains no separate school- or park-proximity buffer for marijuana establishments; a setback of that kind would come from the state Cannabis Control Commission's own siting regulations, not this ordinance.

The Municipal Council holds sole authority to waive the 500-foot spacing, and only by a two-thirds roll-call vote finding the waiver in the City's best interest, so an applicant cannot obtain relief through the Zoning Board of Appeals or a simple majority vote. Because the section sits inside the general Zoning Ordinance rather than a standalone cannabis chapter, applications and enforcement route through the same offices that handle other zoning matters: the City Planner reviews site plans and the Zoning Enforcement Officer confirms compliance before any certificate of occupancy issues.

Marijuana retailers must still separately clear Taunton's cannabis licensing process and any host community agreement before opening, but the buffer itself is purely a zoning-map spacing rule tied to parcel distance, not a use-based or population-based cap.