San Clemente, CA Cannabis Regulations: Dispensary Zoning (2026)

035, adopted by Ordinance No. 1613 in January 2016 and amended by Ordinance No. 1632 later that year, treats every form of commercial cannabis activity as a prohibited use in every zoning district in San Clemente. 2 bars any medical marijuana collective, cooperative, dispensary, delivery service, operator, establishment, or provider outright, stating that no use permit, variance, building permit, or any other administrative or discretionary entitlement may be approved or issued for one. Subsection E extends the same prohibition to commercial marijuana activity generally, naming the transportation, delivery, storage, distribution, or sale of marijuana or marijuana products; cultivation; manufacturing or testing; and any other business licensed by the state under Division 10 of the Business and Professions Code.

Because the ban runs through every zoning district rather than carving out an industrial or commercial overlay, there is no map-based path to a licensed storefront, delivery hub, cultivation site, or testing lab anywhere within city limits. The section's stated purpose is to regulate personal, medical, and commercial marijuana uses while leaving state and federal law otherwise intact, and it pairs the commercial ban with a citywide prohibition on outdoor cultivation and a cap on indoor personal cultivation. A resident seeking a business license for any cannabis-related enterprise will be turned down at the permit counter regardless of the underlying zoning designation, since the code forecloses the discretionary review process before it starts.