Tempe, AZ Cannabis Regulations: Buffer Zones (2026)
Key Facts
- School/childcare buffer
- 1,500 feet minimum
- Church/park/residential buffer
- 1,320 feet minimum
- Dispensary-to-dispensary buffer
- 5,280 feet (1 mile)
- Cultivation facility residential buffer
- 500 feet minimum
- Enforcing office
- Community Development Department
- Required approval
- Non-transferable use acceptance letter
Summary
Tempe's Zoning and Development Code keeps marijuana dispensaries and marijuana establishments away from sensitive uses under Section 3-426(B)(1). A dispensary cannot sit within 1,500 feet of a childcare facility or school, within 1,320 feet of a place of worship, park, library or residential district, or within 5,280 feet, one mile, of another dispensary. The Community Development Department verifies these distances before issuing a use acceptance letter.
A medical marijuana dispensary or marijuana establishment shall not be operated or maintained on a parcel, measured by a straight line in all directions, without regard to intervening structures or objects, from the nearest point of the property line of a parcel containing the following: a. Within one thousand five hundred (1,500) feet from a childcare facility; b. Within one thousand five hundred (1,500) feet from a charter school, private school, or public school, which provides elementary or secondary education; c. Within one thousand three hundred twenty (1,320) feet from a place of worship; d. Within one thousand three hundred twenty (1,320) feet from a public park, library, or public community building; e. Within one thousand three hundred twenty (1,320) feet from a residential zoning district or the property line of a parcel solely devoted to a residential use in any zoning district; or f. Within five thousand two hundred eighty (5,280) feet (1 mile) from another medical marijuana dispensary or marijuana establishment.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: City Code: Supplement 33 Update 4 | Zoning and Development Code: Supplement 11 Update 2).
Full Breakdown
The city measures every buffer as a straight line from the nearest point of the dispensary's property line to the nearest point of the sensitive-use parcel, without regard to intervening structures, under Section 3-426(B)(1). A medical marijuana dispensary or marijuana establishment without cultivation must stay at least 1,500 feet from any childcare facility, charter school, private school or public school; at least 1,320 feet from a place of worship, public park, library or public community building, or from a residential zoning district or a parcel devoted to residential use; and at least 5,280 feet, a full mile, from another dispensary or marijuana establishment.
Tighter rules apply to related uses: Section 3-426(B)(2) sets a 1,320-foot buffer from schools, churches, parks and libraries and a 500-foot buffer from residential zoning for a marijuana cultivation facility, while Section 3-426(B)(3) limits a marijuana infusion facility to a 500-foot buffer from each of those same uses. Before a dispensary can open, Section 3-426(F) requires a zoning administrative application to the Community Development Department that includes a map demonstrating compliance with these separation requirements, along with a security plan under Section 3-426(C)(8) and a use acceptance letter.
No dispensary, establishment, cultivation facility or infusion facility may commence business without that use acceptance letter from the zoning administrator or designee, and the letter is not transferable to a new operator or location.
Violations & Fines
Operating a dispensary, establishment, cultivation facility or infusion facility without the required use acceptance letter, or inside a prohibited buffer, violates Section 1-201 of the Zoning and Development Code. The city can issue a civil citation carrying a $100 to $1,000 civil sanction per day of violation, or prosecute the conduct as a class 1 misdemeanor punishable by up to a $2,500 fine, three years of probation, or six months in jail, with each day treated as a separate offense.
Frequently Asked Questions
How far must a Tempe dispensary be from a school?
Can two dispensaries operate near each other in Tempe?
Who checks buffer compliance before a dispensary opens?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Tempe
Compare Tempe to another location·View the Arizona cannabis regulations overview
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