Richland, WA Cannabis Regulations: Dispensary Zoning (2026)

RMC § 23.08.100(A) is a citywide prohibited-use rule that sits above the individual zoning chapters. It states that marijuana-related land uses, including marijuana retail sale, production or processing facilities, collective gardens and dispensaries as may be allowed under state law, are expressly prohibited from locating or operating in any zone within the city of Richland. That single sentence functions as Richland's opt-out of Washington's licensed marijuana system for every zone the city controls, from the AG agricultural district through the C-3 general business and I-M industrial districts.

The section is layered on top of, not a substitute for, the individual use-specific prohibitions the code cross-references in RMC §§ 23.14.030, 23.18.030, 23.22.030, 23.26.030, 23.28.030 and 23.30.020, each of which lists uses barred from its own district; § 23.08.100(A) closes the gap those chapter-specific lists leave open by extending the marijuana ban to every district at once. A related backstop appears in subsection (B): no land use may be authorized if the planning manager determines it would violate any local, state, or federal law, which independently blocks a marijuana business that federal law could still treat as a Controlled Substances Act violation even where Washington state law allows it.