Walton County, FL Cannabis Regulations: Buffer Zones (2026)

Walton County Code § 12.5-14, adopted by Ordinance No. 2017-16, bars a cannabis dispensing business from locating within 1,320 feet of any public, private or charter elementary, middle or secondary school, house of worship, licensed day care center, or county park. The distance is measured 'by following the shortest route of ordinary pedestrian travel along the public thoroughfare' from the dispensary's main entrance to the main entrance of the house of worship, park or day care, or, for a school, to the nearest point of the school grounds actually used for school facilities. The buffer is not retroactive: if a protected use like a school or church opens near an already-approved dispensary after the fact, § 12.5-14(b) says the existing business does not violate the section and cannot be forced to relocate.

The buffer sits inside a broader licensing scheme under Chapter 12.5. Section 12.5-12 caps the county at one certificate of approval north of the Inter-Coastal Waterway through Choctawhatchee Bay and one south of it, tied to the finding that Walton County's population was under 70,000 and roughly split by the waterway when the chapter was adopted. Section 12.5-7 requires a certificate of approval and a separate premises authorization before dispensing, each good for three years and renewable, and § 12.5-11 disqualifies any applicant or operator whose owner, investor or manager has been convicted of certain crimes under F.S. § 435.04(2) or a felony involving fraud or false statements.