Sumter County, FL Cannabis Regulations: Dispensary Zoning (2026)

Section 13-565 sits in Division 4, Specific Use Standards, of the Sumter County Land Development Code, chapter 13, alongside sections on sexually oriented businesses, kennels and other regulated uses. Subsection (a) states plainly that new medical cannabis dispensaries are prohibited in Sumter County, citing Ch. as the authority for the county's opt-out, exactly as printed in the code. Subsection (b) grandfathers dispensaries that were already approved before the ordinance took effect, allowing them to keep operating, including renewing their certificates of appropriateness and premises authorizations that were issued under Sumter County Ordinance 2017-01, adopted January 10, 2017.

Because this is a land-use standard rather than a business-tax rule, its effect is that Development Services has no zoning pathway available for approving a brand-new dispensary location anywhere in the unincorporated county, no matter what zoning district a parcel carries; only dispensaries with pre-existing approvals from before the current ordinance can operate or expand their existing authorization. The section governs the unincorporated area only; the cities of Wildwood, Bushnell, Webster, Coleman and Center Hill each administer their own zoning and would set their own dispensary rules under their own codes.