Apple Valley, MN Cannabis Regulations: Dispensary Zoning (2026)

Apple Valley enacted its cannabis zoning by Ord. 1131 and its retail registration chapter by Ord. 1132, both passed 10-24-24. The City Council chose to regulate the time, place and manner of cannabis businesses under M.S. Chapter 342 instead of banning them, so the live questions in the City of Apple Valley, Minnesota, Dakota County, are where a shop can sit and how many the city will register.

Section 155.320(C) limits the operation of any cannabis business, hemp business or temporary cannabis event to property zoned for commercial, industrial and agricultural uses. A use table follows, with columns for NCC, LB, GB, RB, SC, VB, BP, I-1, I-2, PD and AG and one row per business type: retailer, microbusiness, mezzobusiness, cultivator, manufacturer, wholesaler, transporter, testing facility, event organizer, delivery service, medical cannabis combination business, and the lower-potency hemp edible manufacturer and retailer. Retail rows carry a P for permitted or PD-R, which the table note defines as permitted in Planned Development districts or zones that permit freestanding or multi-tenant retail building stores and shops. Microbusinesses and mezzobusinesses carry P*, a footnote that makes retail sale of their own product a permitted accessory use when the state license includes a retail operations endorsement.

Chapter 121 adds the cap. Section 121.04 allows no more than five cannabis retail businesses to operate in the city, and § 121.07(E) makes each registration depend on that number. A registrant files a form with the City Clerk (§ 121.05) that includes the property address and legal description and a certification that the business complies with the zoning requirements of the code. The registration fee is non-refundable and comes from the city fee schedule (§ 121.06). Before registering a business, the city runs a preliminary compliance check against zoning, building code and performance standards (§ 121.11). Section 155.320(E) through (G) then allows up to two outdoor signs, requires the off-street parking for the underlying use, and applies every other zoning regulation in the chapter.