Lakewood, WA Cannabis Regulations: Dispensary Zoning (2026)

160, does not merely leave marijuana businesses off the permitted-use tables; it affirmatively prohibits them everywhere in the city. " The same subsection separately criminalizes individual or group cultivation anywhere in the city and bars any property owner from leasing space to such a business. Subsection E states plainly that these uses "are not permitted uses in any zone," closing off the Land Use and Development Code's normal district-by-district approach entirely rather than confining marijuana businesses to an industrial or commercial zone. The City Council's stated purpose, in subsection B, is to prohibit all medical and recreational marijuana uses citywide, including businesses licensed by the state Liquor and Cannabis Board, and the ordinance bars the City from issuing any business license to a marijuana business, voiding any license obtained through misrepresentation.

Subsection F strips away any argument that a past permit, approval, or City inaction could create a vested or nonconforming right for a marijuana business, even a state-licensed one. This is a local opt-out under the framework the state legislature built into Initiative 502, not a state-law gap: Lakewood chose to close every zoning district rather than designate any. Property inside Joint Base Lewis-McChord, which borders the city, is federal land and was never subject to this or any other Lakewood ordinance. Anyone considering a cannabis-related use in Lakewood should assume there is no lawful location within city limits, on-base or off.