Denver, CO Cannabis Regulations: Dispensary Zoning (2026)
Key Facts
- Buffer distance
- 1,000 feet from schools, day cares, dispensaries
- Enforcing agency
- Denver Department of Excise and Licenses
- Zoning restriction
- Barred from residential and MX-2-family districts
- Citation
- Denver Revised Municipal Code § 6-209(b)-(c)
- License type
- Medical and retail marijuana store licenses
Summary
Denver bars new marijuana stores within 1,000 feet of schools, child care centers, other dispensaries, and treatment facilities, and bans them from residential and most mixed-use MX-2 zone districts citywide.
No medical or retail marijuana store license shall be issued if the proposed location is within one thousand (1,000) feet of one (1) or more of the following locations: (1) Any school...(3) Any other medical or retail marijuana store licensed pursuant to this article V... No medical or retail marijuana store shall be issued at the following locations: (1) Within any residential zone district as defined by the Denver Zoning Code or former chapter 59, in any MS-2, MS-2x, MX-2, MX-2A or MX-2x zone district as defined by the Denver Zoning Code or former chapter 59...
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 147 Update 3).
Full Breakdown
Under Denver Revised Municipal Code § 6-209, the Department of Excise and Licenses cannot issue a medical or retail marijuana store license within 1,000 feet of a school, licensed child care establishment, another marijuana store, or an alcohol or drug treatment facility, measured parcel-line to building or building to building. Stores are also barred outright from any residential zone district and from the MS-2, MS-2x, MX-2, MX-2A, and MX-2x districts under the Denver Zoning Code, and from any location where the zoning code otherwise prohibits retail sales or a planned-unit-development ordinance forbids it. A second dispensary within 1,000 feet of an existing one gets bumped to the back of the queue: the director processes only the first complete application received.
Violations & Fines
Operating or approving a store within the 1,000-foot buffer, or in a residential or MS-2/MX-2-family district, invalidates the license and blocks the application entirely.
Frequently Asked Questions
How far must a Denver dispensary be from a school?
Can a dispensary open in a Denver residential zone?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Denver
Compare Denver to another location·View the Colorado cannabis regulations overview
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