Dispensary Zoning in South Beach: The Rules Behind Where MMTCs Can Operate
Dispensary zoning in South Beach (the southern portion of the City of Miami Beach) is shaped by a simple reality: Florida allows medical marijuana treatment centers (MMTCs) to operate, but cities can tightly control where they go—so long as they don’t treat MMTCs more harshly than pharmacies.
At the state level, Florida law allows municipalities to set “criteria for the location” of medical marijuana dispensing facilities, but it also places guardrails on local zoning. In particular, a city generally can’t adopt location/permitting rules for MMTCs that are more restrictive than its rules for pharmacies licensed under Chapter 465, and state law also addresses separation from K–12 school property. Miami Beach’s land development regulations reflect that structure by regulating MMTCs alongside “pharmacy stores,” then limiting both uses to specific mapped areas and layering on operational safeguards.
Where dispensaries can locate in South Beach
Miami Beach designates “permitted areas,” and it explicitly prohibits MMTCs in zoning districts and areas not listed in the ordinance. For South Beach, the most relevant permitted clusters are concentrated along Alton Road and nearby commercial corridors. The ordinance lists lots zoned CD-2 along Alton Road between 6th Street and 8th Street and additional stretches of CD-1/CD-2 fronting Alton Road between 13th Street and 16th Street.
There is also a more specialized South Beach zone (“Area 5”) in portions of CD-3 south of 17th Street (generally between Michigan Avenue and Lenox Avenue). But this area is intentionally restrictive: the MMTC or pharmacy use must be accessory to a qualifying medical office/clinic/health center, the space is capped (1,000 square feet for the accessory use), the use can’t be on the first floor, and operational controls are designed to prevent hallway crowding (patients must be handled through private waiting rooms, and queuing in common areas is prohibited).
Distance-separation rules
Even if a property is in a permitted district, spacing requirements can disqualify a location. Miami Beach bars an MMTC within 500 feet of a public or private elementary, middle, or secondary school, measured in a straight line from the dispensary entrance/exit to the nearest point of the school property line. It also requires 1,200 feet between MMTCs (entrance/exit to entrance/exit, straight-line). In dense, walkable South Beach, this spacing rule is often the biggest constraint on new storefronts.
Operating rules tied to zoning
Miami Beach also regulates “how” these businesses operate. City rules prohibit cannabis-related uses like cultivation, processing, manufacturing, testing, membership clubs, and “vapor lounges” anywhere in the city. Transactions must stay indoors: dispensing, payment, and receipt are prohibited outside the facility (including sidewalks and parking areas), and drive-thrus are not allowed. The city further limits storefront visibility through signage/advertising restrictions (for example, limiting signage to the establishment name and compliance signage and restricting product depictions visible from public areas). It also requires odor controls so marijuana odor is not perceptible outside the building or at adjoining uses.
Bottom line: In South Beach, dispensary “zoning law” is less about a single district and more about (1) being inside a narrow permitted-area map, (2) meeting strict separation distances, and (3) operating in a tightly controlled, low-profile way that’s compatible with a dense tourism and nightlife environment.