Bensalem, PA Cannabis Regulations: Dispensary Zoning (2026)

Section 232-387 lists medical marijuana dispensaries among the conditional uses the Bensalem Township Council may permit or deny in the G-C General Commercial District, subject to the general conditional use standards in Section 232-595. Subsection (a) makes Pennsylvania Department of Health registration a running condition of Township approval: the applicant must show an active registration or one pending approval, and if the state denies or revokes that registration at any point, the Township's approval becomes void immediately. The same subsection bars a dispensary from operating on the same site as a facility that grows or processes medical marijuana, keeping the two uses in separate locations even when a single operator holds both licenses.

Subsection (f) confines the retail operation entirely indoors: no exterior sales, no sidewalk displays, no drive-thru service, and no outdoor seating, and the dispensary cannot be advertised on radio or television. Subsection (g) sets a narrower business day than most G-C retail uses, limiting hours to between 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. Subsection (b) layers on continuing compliance with all Department of Health regulations governing the facility, on top of the Township's own zoning conditions. Because the use is conditional rather than by-right, each application goes to Township Council for approval or denial rather than being issued over the counter by the Zoning Officer, and the siting buffers in Section 232-387(1)(c) and (d) apply on top of these operational conditions before Council can approve a location.