Lakewood, CO Cannabis Regulations: Dispensary Zoning (2026)

Chapter 5.58 governs Retail Marijuana Businesses in Lakewood, and § 5.58.040(A) sets the city's real gatekeeping rule: "No Retail Marijuana Store shall be licensed or otherwise permitted in the city unless the applicant... was, as of April 1, 2020, operating in good standing a licensed Medical Marijuana Center in the city," and remains licensed as a Medical Marijuana Center by both city and state. In practice this closes retail marijuana licensing to anyone who was not already running a Lakewood medical dispensary before that date; existing distance restrictions do not even apply to a Medical Marijuana Center location that was licensed as of April 1, 2020, under § 5.58.040(B).

Section 5.58.060 covers what happens when a licensed store wants to move. Under § 5.58.060(A), a location transfer follows the Colorado Marijuana Code's own standards, administered by the city the same way the state administers its license transfers, plus Lakewood's local add-ons. § 5.58.060(B) sets those add-ons: a relocating Retail Marijuana Store cannot land within 3,000 feet of another licensed Medical Marijuana Center or Retail Marijuana Store, or within 1,000 feet of any elementary, middle, or high school or an associated athletic facility. Section 5.58.060(C) measures that distance in a straight line, property line to property line, ignoring anything built in between.

A relocation application costs $1,000 under § 5.58.060(E) and triggers a Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) review by the Police Department addressing lighting, sightline obstructions from trees, bushes, fences and dumpsters, and camera coverage, per § 5.58.060(F). The City Clerk must administratively approve or deny the relocation within 30 days under § 5.58.060(G). Separately, § 5.58.030(C) bans Retail Marijuana-Infused Products Manufacturing facilities outright: no such license is available in the city at all.