Buying or selling a cannabis business in Las Vegas, Nevada

Which local government licenses a Las Vegas cannabis business?

The state licence comes from the Cannabis Compliance Board, covered on the Nevada page. The local business licence and special use permit come from whichever government holds the parcel. The Strip is not in the City of Las Vegas. It runs through unincorporated Clark County. The city covers downtown, Fremont Street and the northwest. Henderson and North Las Vegas have their own codes. A Las Vegas deal therefore runs three files: the Board’s ownership file, the local licence file and the land use file. See local control and municipal approvals.

City of Las Vegas rules

Zoning. Under the city’s land use tables, a cannabis dispensary needs a special use permit in the C-1, C-2, C-M and M districts. Cultivation and production are limited to C-M and M. The minimum requirements in LVMC 19.12.070 set these separations:

Distance	From
1,000 feet	Any school, and any other dispensary, including one outside city limits
300 feet	City parks, churches, licensed child care homes and centres, public community recreation facilities, uses aimed at minors
1,500 feet	A nonrestricted gaming establishment, to the extent state law (AB 533, 2019) prohibits the site

No dispensary may abut Fremont Street west of 8th Street. The application needs a stamped survey of the buffers. The permit lapses if the use stops for more than 90 days, which matters for a store closed during a messy sale.

Licence and fees. LVMC chapter 6.95 requires a City Council business licence after the state licence issues. Each principal must be found suitable by the Council under chapter 6.06. Section 6.95.230 charges a one-time $75,000 origination fee for a dispensary or retail store. It also charges a semi-annual licence fee of 3% of cannabis gross revenue. The fee works like a local revenue tax, and missing a payment by 60 days revokes the licence automatically. The only local equity measure is a lower origination charge for social equity applicants seeking an independent consumption lounge: $1,500 instead of $10,000.

Clark County rules

Zoning. Clark County’s Title 30 Unified Development Code, in section 30.03.06(C), makes a retail store or dispensary a special use in the CP, CG, CC, CU, IP and IL districts. Cultivation and production are limited to IP and IL. Distances are measured from the front door to the nearest lot line: 1,000 feet from a school, 300 feet from a community facility and 1,500 feet from a nonrestricted gaming property. No cannabis facility may sit in the Las Vegas Boulevard Gaming Corridor. Cultivation and production must be 660 feet from residential areas. The special use criteria in 30.06.05(D) ask whether a new retail store is adequately separated from other stores. That gives the county a discretionary check on clustering.

Licence and fees. Under Clark County Code chapter 8.65, the application fee is $1,500. The quarterly licence fee is 1% of gross revenue up to $150,000, 2% from $150,000 to $400,000 and 3% above that. Any change in ownership needs approval from the Department of Business License before it occurs (8.65.210). A relocation needs a public hearing and a new special use permit (8.65.215). The county’s Business License page publishes a separate transfer-of-ownership packet.

Illustrative: a county store selling $500,000 in a quarter pays $1,500 plus $5,000 plus $3,000, or $9,500. That is 1.9% of revenue before state excise.

How much of Nevada’s market is here

Most of it. Clark County reported $567.6 million of taxable sales in fiscal 2025 out of $757.7 million statewide. The buyer pool is the deepest in the state. But the statewide decline of about 8.6% and the Board’s finding that up to a quarter of sales are unlicensed both hit hardest here. Store revenue splits between visitors near the corridor and households in Summerlin or the northwest. Value those separately; see how to evaluate a cannabis business for sale.

Tribal competition and lounges

The Las Vegas Paiute Tribe runs the NuWu marketplace and Sky High lounge under tribal jurisdiction, outside both local codes, as The Nevada Independent describes. Two state-licensed lounges were open in 2026. Under Title 30, a county lounge needs 1,500 feet from schools and community facilities. See consumption lounges.

Practical points

• Put the jurisdiction, the special use permit and its conditions on page one of the data room.
• Keep the store trading through a sale. In the city, a gap of more than 90 days voids the permit.
• File the local ownership approval alongside the Board file, and do not take control early. The Board’s April 2024 notice on management agreements catches impatient buyers.
• Model local gross revenue fees as a cost line. A confidential intro call can cover a specific site.

This page is educational and is not legal or tax advice.