Winter Haven, FL Cannabis Regulations: Dispensary Zoning (2026)

Sec. 21-97(e) sets the zoning-district standards for pharmacies and medical marijuana dispensing facilities citywide, and subsection (e)(1) is the location-and-approval rule. Pharmacies and medical marijuana dispensing facilities are permitted by right within the C-3 and C-4 zoning districts, Winter Haven's more intensive commercial classifications. Inside the C-1 and C-2 zoning districts, the same uses require review as a special use, following the procedures in ULDC Sections 21-411 through 21-418, meaning a hearing before the planning commission rather than an over-the-counter permit. Inside the MX, Mixed Use, zoning district, a dispensing facility can only operate as an accessory special use within a medical clinic, again processed under Sections 21-411 through 21-418, so a freestanding dispensary is not an option in MX at all.

Once located, subsection (e)(1) also imposes a parking standard, a minimum of three off-street parking spaces per 1,000 square feet of gross floor area, on-site or within 300 feet of ordinary pedestrian travel, and requires drive-through lanes and speaker boxes to be sited to minimize off-site impacts on adjacent residential uses. A special use approval for a dispensing facility expires under subsection (f) if construction is not obtained within 180 consecutive days of the approval order, or if the use is abandoned for 180 consecutive days.

Sec. 21-97 was adopted by Ord. No. O-18-01, Sec. 2, effective January 22, 2018, and last amended by Ord. No. O-24-13, Sec. 1, on March 25, 2024.