City of Manassas Starts Marijuana Zoning Review Ahead of 2027 Retail Sales

Virginia has authorized adult-use sales beginning July 1, 2027; Manassas is now deciding where licensed businesses may operate and what local zoning rules will apply

2-Minute Brief

WHAT: The City of Manassas has started reviewing its zoning rules for marijuana businesses as Virginia prepares to open a regulated adult-use retail market.

WHY NOW: Manassas considered marijuana zoning regulations in 2025 but put them on hold while waiting for the General Assembly to establish the state retail system. Virginia lawmakers established that system in 2026.

WHAT MANASSAS CONTROLS: Virginia will license and regulate marijuana businesses. Manassas cannot prohibit the state-authorized marijuana market, but it retains authority over local zoning and land-use requirements and can regulate hours of sale within state law.

WHAT HAS NOT BEEN DECIDED: Manassas has not yet adopted the new zoning rules. The specific zoning districts, local requirements and permitted locations have not been finalized.

WHAT THIS DOES NOT DO: The zoning amendment does not approve a particular marijuana store or other marijuana business.

WHAT’S NEXT: City staff will prepare proposed zoning language for Planning Commission review. City Council will ultimately decide whether to adopt the zoning amendment.

The City of Manassas started preparing zoning rules for marijuana businesses ahead of Virginia’s new adult-use retail market.

The Planning Commission has initiated ZTA #2027-0001, beginning the local review of how marijuana-related businesses will be treated under the Manassas Zoning Ordinance.

Virginia’s regulated adult-use marijuana market is scheduled to begin July 1, 2027. The Virginia Cannabis Control Authority is developing the regulations and licensing system that will govern the new market.

Virginia has authorized the retail market. Manassas is now determining how licensed marijuana businesses will fit into its zoning system.

How Manassas Got Here

Virginia began changing its marijuana laws several years ago.

In 2021, the Commonwealth legalized limited marijuana possession and home cultivation for adults 21 and older and created the Virginia Cannabis Control Authority.

Virginia did not, however, immediately establish a general adult-use retail market.

That left local governments, including Manassas, without a complete state framework for marijuana businesses that might eventually seek to open.

Manassas planning staff began considering local marijuana zoning regulations in 2025.

The earlier proposal would have specifically identified cannabis dispensing facilities and retail marijuana stores in the zoning ordinance and addressed where those businesses could locate.

It also considered separation requirements and zoning provisions for other marijuana-related uses.

Those regulations were not adopted.

Manassas Waited for State Action

When the marijuana provisions reached the Planning Commission in 2025, City staff recommended waiting until the General Assembly established the state retail system.

The Planning Commission tabled the marijuana portion of the zoning work.

That delayed the local rules while the state framework remained unsettled.

Virginia lawmakers established the retail system in 2026, bringing the zoning issue back before Manassas.

What Virginia Has Approved

Virginia will allow regulated adult-use marijuana sales beginning July 1, 2027.

The Virginia Cannabis Control Authority will oversee the state’s licensing and regulatory system.

The state system includes licenses for marijuana cultivation, processing, testing, transportation, delivery, retail sales, dual-use businesses and microbusinesses.

The Authority is developing regulations in 2026, with final regulations scheduled before licensing and retail sales begin in 2027.

What Manassas Can and Cannot Decide

Virginia law generally prohibits localities from adopting ordinances that prohibit or separately regulate marijuana cultivation, processing, possession, sale, distribution and other activities governed by the state system.

At the same time, the law preserves local authority over zoning, land use and business-license requirements.

That means Manassas cannot simply prohibit the state-authorized marijuana market from operating within the City.

It can establish zoning rules governing where licensed marijuana businesses may locate and what local land-use requirements apply.

The City may also establish hours during which marijuana may be sold.

The exact Manassas rules have not yet been adopted.

What Manassas Considered Before

The City’s 2025 proposal provides background for the current discussion, but it is not the final zoning ordinance now being developed.

That proposal considered allowing retail marijuana stores and medical cannabis dispensing facilities in the B-4 zoning district.

It also proposed separation requirements from residential areas and several community uses and addressed marijuana testing, wholesaling, cultivation and manufacturing.

Those provisions were tabled before adoption.

Since then, Virginia has established the state retail system.

Manassas must now determine how its local zoning ordinance will operate within that state framework.

Is Marijuana Already Legal in Virginia?

Some marijuana activity is already legal under Virginia law.

Adults 21 and older may possess marijuana within state limits and may grow a limited number of plants at home.

Virginia also has a medical cannabis system.

What Virginia does not yet have is a general legal adult-use retail market.

Non-medical retail sales remain illegal today. Licensed adult-use retail sales are scheduled to begin July 1, 2027.

Federal Law Is Different

Virginia’s action does not make marijuana generally legal under federal law.

Federal marijuana policy is governed separately from Virginia law.

That distinction does not change Virginia’s timetable for beginning its state-regulated retail market in July 2027.

For this local zoning issue, the immediate decisions before Manassas are governed by Virginia law and local zoning authority.

Marijuana Sales Will Also Carry a Local Tax

Virginia law requires every locality where taxable marijuana sales occur to impose an additional local marijuana tax.

The rate must be at least 1% and no more than 3.5%.

Manassas will therefore have to set a local marijuana tax rate within that range before taxable retail sales begin.

That tax decision is separate from the zoning amendment.

What Remains Undecided

The current action is a citywide zoning process. It is not an application for a particular marijuana store, cultivation facility or other marijuana business.

No individual marijuana business has been approved through ZTA #2027-0001.

The City has also not yet adopted:

the final zoning districts where marijuana businesses will be permitted;
the local land-use requirements that will apply;
any final separation requirements;
the permitted hours of marijuana sales; or
the local marijuana tax rate.

Any future marijuana business would need the appropriate state license and would also have to comply with the zoning rules Manassas ultimately adopts.

What Happens Next

City staff will prepare the proposed zoning language for ZTA #2027-0001.

The Planning Commission will review the amendment through the zoning process and make a recommendation.

City Council will ultimately decide whether to adopt the amendment to the Manassas Zoning Ordinance.

The next key document is the draft ordinance. It will show where licensed marijuana businesses are proposed to be permitted in Manassas, what local requirements would apply and how the proposal differs from the zoning rules considered in 2025.