Monterey, CA Cannabis Regulations: Dispensary Zoning (2026)

8 creates the Cannabis Business Overlay District, shown on the zoning map with a "CB" designator layered onto Commercial (C) districts. The ordinance sets a hard numeric cap: four storefront retail cannabis businesses citywide, one per overlay zone. CB1 covers the Lighthouse and Foam Street area but bars any cannabis storefront from fronting a cross street with Lighthouse Avenue or Foam Street; CB2 is the Downtown District, with frontage on Alvarado Street itself off-limits; CB3 covers the Wave Street area and blocks frontage on Wave Street cross streets or public access from the Recreation Trail; CB4 sits on North Fremont Street between Airport Road and Palo Verde Avenue.

Beyond the four storefronts, the code allows exactly one nonstorefront cannabis business somewhere within the four overlay zones, and cannabis testing laboratories are carved out entirely, free to locate in any Industrial (IR) zone regardless of the overlay. Every cannabis business must also pass a Zoning Clearance Consistency Review confirming it meets the standards of Chapters 9 (Building), 26 (Planning), 31 (Signs) and 38 (Zoning), conforms to the General Plan and any applicable specific or master plan, and is built to minimize odors to surrounding uses.

The overlay designation carries forward automatically to any new lot created by a later lot split of a CB-zoned parcel. This is a location and permitting framework only; it does not address licensing fees, taxation, or the number of delivery-only operators, which the city addresses separately.