McLean County, IL Cannabis Regulations: Dispensary Zoning (2026)

McLean County Code § 350-43DDD governs where cannabis businesses other than cannabis cultivation centers, meaning dispensaries, craft growers, processors and similar licensed operations, may locate: they cannot locate closer than 500 feet from the lot line of school grounds, a playground, a public park, a house of worship, a public library, a day-care center, or a lot for which the principal use is a residence. Craft grower facilities carry an added lighting condition requiring that light be restricted from passing through the side walls and roofs at night, and every cannabis business must direct parking lot lighting on-site so it does not spill onto neighboring properties.

As with cultivation centers under § 350-43CCC, a cannabis business must notify the Director of Building and Zoning within 30 days of receiving its Illinois state license. Because this 500-foot buffer, rather than an outright district ban, is the operative zoning rule, cannabis businesses are not prohibited countywide; they are permitted subject to clearing the buffer and any applicable use table designation for the district where they propose to locate under § 350-42. The 500-foot distance is half the 1,000-foot buffer the county applies specifically to cultivation centers, reflecting the difference in scale between a cultivation operation and a storefront dispensary or craft grower. This section governs siting only in unincorporated McLean County; a dispensary inside Bloomington or Normal is sited under those cities' own cannabis ordinances.