Palm Bay could ban future medical marijuana dispensaries from opening in the city.
State law currently says municipalities must allow medical marijuana dispensaries to be located anywhere pharmacies are allowed. And no city or county governments are legally permitted to restrict their zoning. But the statute comes with one major caveat: local governments are permitted to ban the opening of new medical marijuana dispensaries altogether as long as it doesn’t retroactively affect those in operation.
“The ban established by this chapter is not intended to apply retroactively to prohibit the continued, lawful operation of any such facilities operating within the City on the date of enactment,” according to state statute.
At the City Council’s meeting on Dec. 18, 2025, councilman Mike Jaffe expressed his concerns about the amount of medical marijuana dispensaries in the city and asked if the city attorney could find options to limit their prevalence.
“We talk about economic development and how we want businesses. Wagon Wheel closed. And Wendy’s closed. And now they’re both marijuana dispensaries,” Jaffe said at that time. “I don’t want to see our city overrun by these dispensaries.”
Council members at the time signaled a willingness to explore options to limit or even deter dispensaries from opening in the city. The city could take a final vote on the matter at its May 7 meeting at 6 p.m. at City Hall, 120 Malabar Rd.
Tyler Vazquez is the Growth and Development Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Vazquez at 321-480-0854 or tvazquez@floridatoday.com. Twitter: @tyler_vazquez.