Commerce City, CO Cannabis Regulations: Dispensary Zoning (2026)

Land Development Code section 21-5249(1)(b) sets tighter residential buffers than the general 1,000-foot rule: a retail or medical marijuana store cannot locate within 2,000 feet of any property zoned residential, agricultural, or mixed-use with a residential entitlement, while other marijuana businesses and primary caregivers face a 1,000-foot version of the same buffer. Subsection (1)(c) adds a 2,000-foot separation between any two retail or medical marijuana stores, on top of the 1,000-foot spacing from other marijuana business types under subsection (1)(a)(vii). Commerce City has not opted out of retail marijuana; instead, municipal code section 8-2215 caps how many store licenses the marijuana licensing authority may issue by geography.

The city is split into Area 1, south and west of a line running from 96th Avenue and Buckley Road to 80th Avenue and Buckley Road, and Area 2, north and east of that line, and the authority may issue no more than four retail-or-medical store licenses in each area; co-located licenses count as a single license, and no new license issues in an area once it reaches the four-license ceiling. A marijuana business must hold both a state license and a city license or permit in full force, and licenses are non-transferable except through the change-of-ownership process.

The city's marijuana licensing authority, distinct from the Community Development Department that administers the Land Development Code's zoning buffers, reviews and issues these store licenses.