Rochester Hills, MI Cannabis Regulations: Dispensary Zoning (2026)

Section 22-161, part of Chapter 22's Article IV on marihuana establishments, is a single-sentence opt-out: pursuant to Section 6.1 of the Michigan Regulation and Taxation of Marihuana Act, the City of Rochester Hills completely prohibits marihuana establishments, as defined in the Act, within the city's municipal boundaries. The section was adopted by Ordinance No. 608 on December 3, 2018, shortly after Michigan voters approved recreational marihuana in November 2018, making Rochester Hills one of the Michigan municipalities that used the Act's own opt-out mechanism before any state licensing rules took effect locally.

Because the prohibition covers marihuana establishments as the state Act defines that term, which includes growers, processors, secure transporters, testing facilities, retailers and event organizers, the ordinance forecloses any zoning question about where such a business could locate within Rochester Hills: there is no district, overlay or conditional-use path in the zoning ordinance (Chapter 138) that can authorize one, since the underlying use is barred citywide by Chapter 22. The city's ban addresses only commercial marihuana establishments; it does not, in this section, reach a qualifying patient's or caregiver's personal medical marihuana activity, which is addressed separately under state law rather than in this local prohibition.