High Desert Cannabis Zones: Where It's Allowed

As of November 2026, Adelanto and Barstow are the only High Desert cities in this guide that issue local permits for commercial cannabis. Hesperia, Victorville, Apple Valley and unincorporated San Bernardino County bar commercial cannabis businesses. An operator needs a California state license plus local approval, and under federal law adult-use cannabis is still a Schedule I controlled substance.

This page explains the land use rules for property owners and investors. It is general information, not legal advice. Before you buy, lease or build, talk with a California cannabis attorney and the city's planning staff.

How does cannabis licensing work in California?

Two layers of government decide. The state's Department of Cannabis Control (DCC) licenses cultivation, manufacturing, distribution, testing labs, retail, microbusinesses and events. DCC says you must hold its license before you start any commercial cannabis activity, and some operations need several licenses to cover several activities.

Local government is the second layer. DCC's page on where businesses are allowed explains that each city and county can license every business type, only some, or none. San Bernardino County's Land Use Services FAQ adds that its own ban reaches only unincorporated land, so each incorporated city sets its own rules. In practice, the parcel's zoning decides whether a state license can ever be used there.

DCC's page includes a map of local rules, and the agency says to confirm directly with the city or county. Do that for any desert city not covered here.

Where is commercial cannabis allowed in Adelanto?

Adelanto runs the region's broadest program. Per its Cannabis Permitting page (checked November 2, 2026), the city takes applications for cultivation, volatile and non-volatile manufacturing, distribution and transportation, nurseries, testing and dispensaries, under both medicinal and adult-use permits. Non-storefront delivery is available only to a business that already holds an active Adelanto cannabis permit, and it needs its own CUP.

Which Adelanto zones allow cannabis?

• Production uses such as cultivation, manufacturing, distribution and testing require a Conditional Use Permit and are limited to four zones: Light Manufacturing (LM), Light Manufacturing Cannabis Only (LMCO), Manufacturing Industrial (MI) and the Airport Development District (ADD).
• Dispensaries must sit inside the Dispensary Overlay adopted by Resolution 23-77. Per the city, the overlay takes in commercial parcels on Palmdale Road between Highway 395 and Caughlin Road, on Highway 395 between Palmdale Road and Holly Road, several commercial corridors north of Holly Road, and selected Highway 395 intersections. The permitting page links an overlay map labeled 2024.

In the city's zoning use table, "Cannabis Facilities excluding dispensaries" carry a "C," meaning a Conditional Use Permit is required. The ADD zone covers the former air base; see our George Air Force Base and SCLA guide.

What does an Adelanto cannabis permit require?

• A separate cannabis permit for each use. As of November 2026, the city lists a non-refundable $7,371 application fee per use and a non-refundable $8,460 annual renewal per use. Land use application fees are extra.
• For an existing building, a Minor CUP. For new construction or vacant land, a CUP, a Location Development Plan and a CEQA environmental assessment.
• Plan review by San Bernardino County Fire, filed separately, plus approvals the city says are typically needed from the Mojave Desert Air Quality Management District and the Lahontan Water Board.
• Site control before you apply: a lease if you rent, or a grant deed if you own.

Retail rules are in Municipal Code §17.80.120, most recently amended by Ordinance 650 on May 8, 2024. A retailer may not be within 600 feet of a school, public playground or park, child care or day care facility, or youth center, measured in a straight line. The code also describes two "Cannabis Retail Overlay Zone" areas whose boundaries differ from the Resolution 23-77 description, so confirm the current boundary with Planning before you rely on any map.

Adelanto's Cannabis Compliance page lists a 3% local tax, effective November 1, 2020, on retail and events, on manufacturing, distribution and testing, and on non-storefront delivery. Cultivation and nurseries are taxed by square footage.

Does Barstow allow commercial cannabis?

Yes. Here is how Barstow's Commercial Cannabis page (checked November 2, 2026) sorts uses by zone:

Barstow charges more than Adelanto. As of November 2026, the non-refundable application fee is $18,644.85 per use, renewal is $14,107.85 per use each year, and compliance inspections run $550 a quarter. Under the development agreement, operating fees begin at 3% for retail and $5 per square foot of premises per year for other uses. Once staff review and outside agency comments are done, the application goes to the Planning Commission.

Is commercial cannabis allowed in Hesperia?

No. According to the city's Cannabis Regulations page (checked November 2, 2026), Hesperia stopped taking new applications in November 2019, ended renewals of non-storefront medical delivery licenses as of December 1, 2023, and adopted a wind-down ordinance in October 2024. The page says the program was formally repealed on November 30, 2024, ending commercial cannabis activity in the city. One summary line on that page still mentions delivery-only retail, so confirm with the city at (760) 947-1345. See our Hesperia community guide for other city services.

What about Victorville and Apple Valley?

Victorville bars every commercial cannabis license type except one, per its Planning Department page (checked November 2, 2026). The exception lets state-licensed medicinal delivery businesses located outside the city deliver to qualified patients and their primary caregivers in Victorville, under Ordinance No. 2376.

Apple Valley bars dispensaries, commercial cultivation, manufacturing, testing and other state-licensed cannabis businesses in every zone under Development Code §9.36.230. The latest official text we found is Ordinance No. 528, on the Town Council agenda for adoption on February 25, 2020. It permits delivery only to the extent state regulations allow. Confirm the current code with the Town before you rely on it.

Is cannabis allowed in unincorporated San Bernardino County?

No. County Code §84.34.030 bans commercial cannabis activity, delivery included, in every unincorporated zoning district, and violations are misdemeanors. The county FAQ notes one narrow exception for a primary caregiver who runs a state-licensed health facility registered with Land Use Services. The ban reaches areas such as Lucerne Valley, Phelan, Oak Hills and Helendale. Personal indoor growing at a home falls under separate, limited rules on the county's FAQ.

Where does federal rescheduling stand?

On April 23, 2026, the U.S. Justice Department announced an order putting two narrow groups in Schedule III: FDA-approved marijuana products and marijuana products regulated under a state medical license. Foley & Lardner's analysis explains that state adult-use cannabis is still in Schedule I.

The wider plan to move all marijuana to Schedule III went to a DEA hearing held June 29 through July 15, 2026. On September 29, the chief administrative law judge paused the case after a motion to add a new GAO report. An October 22 order admitted the report without reopening the hearing and set replies for November 5, per Cannabis Legalization News. As of November 2, 2026, no recommended decision has been issued. The DEA would then decide, and that decision may be challenged in court.

What real estate issues come with cannabis property?

• Financing. Federal FinCEN guidance (FIN-2014-G001) asks banks that serve marijuana-related businesses to do added due diligence and file special suspicious activity reports, so lender policies vary. Ask each lender early, in writing, whether it will finance a property with a cannabis use or tenant.
• Insurance. Get written confirmation that the building's policy covers the tenant's cannabis use before you close.
• Leases. Adelanto and Barstow each ask tenants for a lease as proof of site control. Spell out the allowed use, permit contingencies, who handles compliance, and what happens if a permit is lost.
• Buffers. California Business and Professions Code §26054 keeps licensed premises 600 feet from K-12 schools, day care centers and youth centers unless the state or the local government sets a different distance. Check local add-ons such as Adelanto's park and playground rule.
• Water and power. Adelanto requires the applicant to bring water, sewer, power and road access to the site before it can operate, and its code has a separate section on cultivation water requirements (§17.80.081). Indoor growing can draw heavy electrical loads, so confirm capacity with the utility before you buy.
• Indoor only. Barstow excludes outdoor cultivation, and Adelanto requires greenhouses to meet building code, be fully enclosed and be screened from view.

How Pleasant Hill can help

We can help you research zoning, utilities and parcel details on High Desert industrial and commercial land, alongside your attorney and the city. You can search homes and land, request a free home valuation, or contact us to talk with Dustin Bynum.

General information, not legal, tax or lending advice. Rules, fees and rates change; confirm with the agency linked above or ask us. Pleasant Hill Real Estate Group · CA DRE Corp. #01997374 · AZ Entity Lic. #LC694532000 · Equal Housing Opportunity.