Vermont Cannabis Local Control: Retail Opt-In by Australian Ballot, 40 Towns With Commissions and the $100 Local Licensing Fee
Vermont Cannabis Local Control: Retail Opt-In by Australian Ballot, 40 Towns With Commissions and the $100 Local Licensing Fee
If you want to open a cannabis retail store in Vermont, the town or city where you plan to operate matters as much as the state. Under Vermont law, a municipality must affirmatively permit cannabis retail before one can operate there. Many towns have not done so, and a smaller group has gone further by creating a local cannabis control commission. This guide walks through how the retail vote works, how to find out where your town stands on the vermont cannabis opt in towns question, and what local approval and fees look like in practice.
This article is informational only and is not legal or tax advice. Talk to a Vermont attorney and a CPA before you sign a lease, file formation paperwork or commit money to a project.
Materials and Information You Need
- The name of the town or city and the street address of the specific building you want to use
- Contact details for the town clerk and, if one exists, the local cannabis control commission
- The Cannabis Control Board (CCB) opt-in map and the CCB commission list (both are covered below)
- Your town's zoning bylaws and sign ordinance, available from the town clerk or the municipal website
- If you form an LLC, the Articles of Organization, which carry a $155 filing fee with the Secretary of State
- A budget that includes the $10,000 annual state retail license ($10,250 with a medical endorsement) and the $100 annual local licensing fee
Step 1: Confirm That Your Activity Is Retail
The opt-in requirement applies only to retail. Cultivators, wholesalers, manufacturers and testing labs need no local opt-in vote. A town also may not limit which license types it allows or cap the number of licenses. If you plan to grow or manufacture cannabis, your local questions are about zoning and permits, not an opt-in. If you plan to sell to the public, the retail vote is the first gate you must pass.
Step 2: Check the Opt-In Status Map, Then Confirm With the Clerk
The CCB published a Google My Maps opt-in map dated January 3, 2025, with 78 placemarks. Towns on that map include Barre, Bennington, Brattleboro, Burlington, Hartford, Manchester, Middlebury, Montpelier, Rutland City, Rutland Town, Springfield and Winooski. The map does not show South Burlington, Colchester, Williston, Stowe, Shelburne, Swanton, the Town of Essex, St. Albans City, Newport, Dover, Ludlow or Warren.
Treat the map as a starting point, not a final answer. It does not capture votes held after January 3, 2025. Call or email the town clerk, ask for the official result of any retail opt-in vote, and confirm the answer with the CCB before you rely on it.
Step 3: Check Whether the Town Has a Commission
A town that hosts any cannabis establishment may create a local cannabis control commission. The CCB list, dated April 17, 2026, names 40 distinct towns and cities: Barre City, Barre Town, Berlin, Bethel, Brandon, Brownington, Burlington, Cambridge, Cavendish, Charlotte, Chester, Danby, Derby, East Haven, Essex Junction, Hardwick, Hartford, Jay, Johnson, Londonderry, Middlesex, Milton, Newfane, Pawlet, Plymouth, Putney, Pownal, Randolph, Rockingham, Rutland City, Springfield, St. Albans Town, Stowe, Stratton, Wilmington, Windsor, Winhall, Winooski, Wolcott and Woodstock. The CCB notes that some commissions may no longer operate.
A commission and a retail opt-in are separate facts. Stowe, Charlotte, Jay and Bethel appear on the commission list without a retail opt-in on the 2025 map, so a commission listing alone does not tell you that retail is allowed. Check both lists, then confirm with the clerk.
Step 4: Understand the Warned Australian Ballot Vote
Under 7 V.S.A. 863, as amended by 2025 No. 176 (Adj. Sess.) sec. 11 and effective July 1, 2026, a municipality must affirmatively permit a cannabis retailer before one operates. The permission comes from a majority of those present and voting, taken by Australian ballot at a warned meeting. The vote stays in place until a later Australian-ballot vote rescinds it. A rescission does not reach a retailer that is already operating.
Ask the clerk how the question was warned, when it was voted and whether it is still in effect. A vote that was never warned properly or was later rescinded will not support a license application.
Step 5: Work With the Commission If One Exists
If your town has a commission, local approval is required before the Board fully issues your license. Without a commission, the local approval step does not apply. The commission has limited power. It may condition your license only on zoning bylaws under 24 V.S.A. 4414 and on sign or public-nuisance ordinances under 2291. It may suspend or revoke your license for violating one of those conditions. It may not charge its own fee, and the town may not add other conditions.
Burlington is a useful example. Voters opted in on Town Meeting Day 2021, and the city council created a commission in August 2022. Burlington allows all license types with no cap. Retail is barred within 500 feet of a K-12 school on adjacent or across-the-street property, and downtown ground-floor windows must be clear to a depth of 8 feet. The city's final local step is the commission license, which follows state approval.
Step 6: Budget the State Fees and the $100 Local Fee
The state charges every licensee an annual $100 local licensing fee and pays it over to the host municipality under 7 V.S.A. 910(10). The town sets no fee of its own. The table below lists the figures verified for this guide.
| Item | Amount | Collected by |
|---|---|---|
| Retail license | $10,000 a year | State (CCB) |
| Retail license with medical endorsement | $10,250 a year | State (CCB) |
| Local licensing fee | $100 a year | State pays to host municipality |
| Town cannabis license fee | No town fee permitted | Not applicable |
| LLC Articles of Organization | $155 | Secretary of State |
| LLC annual report | $45 | Secretary of State |
The integrated state license was repealed July 1, 2026 under Act 176, so do not budget for it. Confirm current state fees directly with the CCB before you finalize a budget.
Step 7: Clear Zoning and Local Rules
Vermont has 14 counties, but counties have no licensing or zoning role. Towns, cities and villages hold zoning authority and local licenses, and their rules differ widely. Ask the zoning administrator whether your address needs a zoning permit, whether the project needs development review, and whether the district restricts retail. Some bylaws add distance or frontage rules, such as Burlington's 500-foot school buffer.
Step 8: Register the Entity and Tax Accounts
Vermont has no general state business license. Register your entity with the Secretary of State's Business Services Division, then open a Department of Taxes account if you collect sales tax or withholding. Retail sales will require that account. Keep the Secretary of State's annual report deadline on your calendar: an LLC's report is due by March 31 for a calendar-year entity, and a missed report can terminate the entity, though it can be reinstated.
Tips and Common Mistakes
- Trusting the 2025 map. The map predates later votes. Always confirm with the clerk and the CCB.
- Treating a commission as proof of retail approval. Commission status and opt-in status are separate questions.
- Assuming a town can set its own license fee. The only local fee is the $100 paid through the state.
- Assuming a town can cap licenses or ban retail by bylaw. Towns cannot cap licenses, and they cannot use ordinances or bylaws to prohibit cannabis establishments.
- Signing a lease with no contingency. Make the lease conditional on the opt-in vote, commission approval and zoning permit.
- Overlooking building-level rules. Distance buffers and window rules can rule out a location even after a town opts in.
Expected Results
A clear path through local control usually follows this order: confirm the opt-in vote, check for a commission, obtain zoning approval, receive commission approval where one exists, then complete state licensing. Based on the statute and CCB guidance, you may reasonably expect local approval to be the last local step before the Board fully issues a retail license in a commission town. Timing depends on your town, so ask the clerk and the commission for typical processing times. The statute requires local government to act promptly, but it does not set a fixed number of days in the materials used for this guide.
This guide makes no health, product-effect or outcome claims. The FDA has not evaluated cannabis for most uses, so any question about labeling, dosing or product claims belongs with the CCB and a qualified attorney, not with a general guide like this one.
Who to Consult
Use a Vermont attorney for the lease, zoning appeal options, entity formation and the commission process. Use a CPA for tax treatment, including the $250 minimum entity tax that applies to pass-through entities such as LLCs taxed as partnerships. The Vermont Small Business Development Center also advises new businesses on planning and paperwork.
Official Resources
- Secretary of State, Business Services Division: https://sos.vermont.gov/business-services/
- Vermont business search: https://bizfilings.vermont.gov/business/businesssearch
- Cannabis Control Board, including the municipal FAQ: https://ccb.vermont.gov
- Vermont Department of Taxes: https://tax.vermont.gov/
- Vermont Small Business Development Center: https://www.vtsbdc.org/