Monterey County, CA Cannabis Regulations: Dispensary Zoning (2026)

Monterey County Code § 21.67.030 bars any commercial cannabis activity in the unincorporated area without first obtaining an administrative permit, a Chapter 7.90 commercial cannabis business permit, and a valid state license under the state's cannabis licensing law. The Chief of Planning is the Appropriate Authority for the administrative permit; contested matters can be referred to a public hearing under § 21.70.060, and appeals run through Chapter 21.80. Section 21.67.040(A) limits cannabis retailers to the Light Commercial, Heavy Commercial, and Mixed Use zoning districts and bars them everywhere else.

Section 21.67.050(A) limits cultivation to the Light Industrial, Heavy Industrial, Agricultural Industrial, and Farmland districts, each requiring its own administrative permit by state license type, Type 1A through Type 4. Outdoor cultivation is banned countywide except under the five-year pilot program the Board created in Chapter 21.69. Within the Farmland district, the county allows indoor and mixed-light cultivation only inside greenhouses or agricultural support buildings that were legally established before January 1, 2016, an adaptive-reuse carve-out meant to keep new cannabis structures off productive farmland.

Retailers also face a spacing cap: no closer than 1,500 feet to another approved retailer without a Chapter 21.74 use permit and proof of special circumstances. Cannabis businesses on the coast, including Big Sur and the Carmel-area coastline, fall under the parallel Chapter 20.67 of the Coastal Zoning Ordinance, Title 20, and need a Coastal Development Permit from the Planning Commission rather than an inland administrative permit. Retail hours are capped countywide, eight a.m. to eight p.m., under § 21.67.040(D)(6).