Tempe, AZ Cannabis Regulations: Dispensary Zoning (2026)

Section 3-426(B) sorts marijuana businesses by district based on whether the business grows its own product. A stand-alone medical marijuana dispensary or a marijuana establishment operating without cultivation can locate in the CSS (Commercial Shopping Street), CC (Community Commercial), PCC-1 and PCC-2 (Planned Commercial Center), RCC (Regional Commercial Center) or LID (Light Industrial) districts, all of which already allow general retail. Once a business adds cultivation, infusion, or stand-alone testing, Tempe pushes it into the GID (General Industrial) or HID (Heavy Industrial) district, the same two districts where industrial hemp cultivation and marketing are allowed under Section 3-426(H).

Every one of these uses still must satisfy the Section 3-426(B)(1) through (3) separation requirements from schools, parks, churches and residential areas before it can locate in an otherwise eligible district. , and a security plan with cameras, vision panels on exterior doors and photocell-activated entrance lighting. A dual licensee that already holds a nonprofit medical marijuana dispensary registration from the Arizona Department of Health Services can add an adult-use marijuana establishment license at the same location under Section 3-426(D). Every use, in every eligible district, still needs a zoning administrative application and use acceptance letter from the Community Development Department before opening.