Worcester County, MD Cannabis Regulations: Buffer Zones (2026)

Section PH 1-110, added 11-29-2023 by Bill No. 23-07, is the County's cannabis siting law, and its definitions come from Title 36 of the Annotated Code of the State of Maryland. Subsection (b) applies to all dispensaries permitted after July 1, 2023 and sets one distance: a minimum separation of two thousand feet. Four things trigger the buffer: a pre-existing primary or secondary school; a licensed child-care center or registered family child-care home under Title 9.5 of the Education Article of the Annotated Code of Maryland; a playground, recreation center, library or public park; and another licensed dispensary. The last item keeps dispensaries from clustering. The section prints no method for measuring the two thousand feet, so the rule is quoted as written.

Subsection (c) prohibits on-site consumption establishments in Worcester County and prohibits any establishment from permitting the consumption of cannabis or cannabis products on-site. Subsection (d) sets the order of authority: § PH 1-110 applies first, and when a matter is not specifically regulated there, the other provisions of the Code of Public Local Laws of Worcester County apply. That brings in zoning. Cannabis dispensaries are listed as special exception uses in the C-1 Neighborhood Commercial and C-3 Highway Commercial Districts, with a minimum lot area of six thousand square feet, lot width of sixty feet, a twenty-five-foot front yard, six-foot side yards and a twenty-foot rear yard, subject to §§ ZS 1-325 and PH 1-110. The C-1 listing also caps gross floor area, including storage, at five thousand square feet.

The County Commissioners adopted the rule by Public Local Law, so it applies in unincorporated Worcester County. Ocean City, Berlin, Snow Hill and Pocomoke City are separate incorporated towns with their own codes.