Sarasota County, FL Cannabis Regulations: Dispensary Zoning (2026)

Sarasota County has not opted out of allowing medical marijuana businesses. UDC Section 124-150(a) states that Medical Marijuana Dispensaries 'are permitted in accordance with this UDC, subject to the following standards,' meaning they are a by-right commercial use once a site clears the operating and separation standards in the same section, not a use requiring a special exception or rezoning. The county's parking table classifies a Medical Marijuana Dispensary among its commercial uses, requiring one parking space per 250 square feet of floor area, the same ratio the UDC applies to offices, pain management clinics, and personal service businesses.

Florida law only allows medical marijuana, and Sarasota County's code enforces that limit locally: Section 124-150(a)(10) states flatly that 'Non-medical marijuana sales are prohibited in all zoning districts,' so even in commercial and industrial zones that otherwise permit the individual Cannabis Farm, dispensary, and research/processing uses, no recreational or adult-use retail can locate anywhere in the county absent a change in state law. The code also blocks vertically integrated 'Medical Marijuana Treatment Centers' from operating as a single combined use: Section 124-150(a)(12) requires that a grower, a dispensary, and a research or processing operation each be established separately, as a Cannabis Farm, a Medical Marijuana Dispensary, and Medical Marijuana Research or Processing, rather than as one integrated treatment center on one site.

One narrow exception lets Personal Caregivers deliver or dispense Cannabis for Medical Use directly to a Qualifying Patient at an Adult Day Care, Extended Care Facility, hospital, Assisted Living Facility, or Nursing Home under Section 124-150(a)(11), without those facilities themselves becoming licensed dispensaries.