Fort Collins, CO Cannabis Regulations: Dispensary Zoning (2026)

Section 15-615(a) governs where a retail marijuana store may open. Paragraph (4) excludes the store from eight residential and mixed-use zone districts by abbreviation: RUL (Rural Lands), UE (Urban Estate), RF (Residential Foothills), RL (Low Density Residential), LMN (Low Density Mixed-Use Neighborhood), MMN (Medium Density Mixed-Use Neighborhood), OT (Old Town), and HMN (High Density Mixed-Use Neighborhood). Paragraph (5) bars a store from a residential unit outright, and paragraph (6) adds a 500-foot buffer around any residential unit even outside those zone districts. Paragraph (7) keeps retail and medical marijuana stores 1,000 feet apart from each other, preventing clustering.

Subsection (b) measures every one of these distances as a straight line from the nearest property line of the parcel holding the protected use to the nearest portion of the building where the proposed store would sit. The medical marijuana article carries the identical eight-district exclusion at § 15-475(a)(4), so a location has to clear the same zoning test whether the applicant is opening a medical or a recreational store. Fort Collins has not opted out of retail marijuana sales: Article XVII, Division 3 (§§ 15-607 through 15-628) creates a full license track for retail marijuana stores, cultivation facilities, products manufacturers, testing facilities, and business operators, so a compliant location in an eligible commercial or industrial zone can still obtain a license through the Retail Marijuana Licensing Authority.