Alachua County, FL Cannabis Regulations: Dispensary Zoning (2026)

45 designates medical marijuana dispensaries, described in the code as facilities 'distributing low-THC and medical cannabis for therapeutic purposes', as a limited use in exactly six zoning districts: BR, BR-1, BH, BA, BA-1, and HM. 06(b)), so a dispensary in one of these districts doesn't need a special exception or special use permit from the Board of County Commissioners, but it cannot locate in any residential, agricultural, or industrial district, nor in any commercial district outside the six listed. The Section only reaches medical marijuana; Florida has not legalized recreational cannabis sales, so there's no separate zoning category here for a recreational dispensary.

Dispensaries in the permitted districts must also clear the Section's 500-foot separation standard from schools before they can be sited. Because the Use Table controls where a use may locate, an application to site a dispensary outside these six districts would be treated as a prohibited use under the Chapter's use classifications, and could not be approved administratively. The rule was adopted by Ord. No. 2016-15 in 2016, shortly after Florida voters approved medical marijuana, and amended by Ord. No. 2017-17 in 2017 and Ord. No. 2020-25 in 2020.