Pawtucket, RI Cannabis Regulations: Dispensary Zoning (2026)

Pawtucket's Zoning Ordinance treats commercial marijuana uses as special uses under § 410-60X, confined to a narrow set of industrial districts. 6-12, may be permitted by special use permit only in the Industrial Open (MO) and Industrial Built-Up (MB) Zoning Districts. An applicant must submit the compassion center's articles of incorporation and the name, address and date of birth of every principal officer and board member, along with a site plan showing distances to the nearest residential district and other protected uses. The ordinance layers three separation requirements onto the district limit: a compassion center cannot sit within 200 feet of the nearest residential zoning district, within 1,000 feet of the nearest public or private school, park, playground, recreation field, youth center or licensed day-care center, or within 2,000 feet of any other existing compassion center, all measured in a straight line between the nearest property lines.

, and must run an operational security and alarm system approved through the permit process. Licensed marijuana cultivators face the same district limit and school/park/day-care buffer, plus an 8,000-square-foot minimum lot size. The ordinance's marijuana section addresses only these state-licensed medical uses, compassion centers, cultivators and testing facilities; it contains no separate zoning category for adult-use retail marijuana establishments.