Wine grapes, almonds, and foothill cattle — Madera's unincorporated footprint is closed to commercial cannabis under Chapter 18.87. The entire permitted market runs through one city: the City of Madera, which opted in with a full commercial framework in 2021. Here's the local pathway.
Every figure below is sourced to a Madera County or City of Madera document, or recent reporting — see each card. Madera is a tight, ordinance-forward county; the failure modes are about reading the four city ordinances correctly, not guessing.
The City of Madera adopted Ordinances 976, 977, 979, and 980 across 2021 to stand up its commercial-cannabis framework — 976 and 977 in June, 979 and 980 in November. Operators need to read all four to understand what is and isn't permittable. (City of Madera Municipal Code via Municode)
Madera County Code Chapter 18.87 prohibits all forms of commercial cannabis in unincorporated areas — cultivation, manufacturing, distribution, retail. Personal-use cultivation is allowed (6 indoor plants; medical patients up to 100 sq ft canopy, 10 ft height, primary residence only). (Madera County Code, Chapter 18.87)
The City of Madera has already awarded every eligible Standard Retail, Microbusiness, and Social Equity permit. No new applications in those categories are being accepted. The remaining openings are in vertically-integrated, cultivation, manufacturing, distribution, and testing — none of which are capped. (City of Madera cannabis page)
Madera County has two incorporated cities — the City of Madera and Chowchilla. Chowchilla has not adopted a commercial-cannabis ordinance and should be treated as a ban jurisdiction until the City Clerk confirms otherwise. Assuming Chowchilla tracks the City of Madera is a common and expensive mistake. (City of Chowchilla)
This is the work we do in Madera: City of Madera commercial-cannabis application packets (vertically-integrated, cultivation, manufacturing, distribution, testing), DCC state-license coordination in parallel, and zoning/location reviews under Ordinance 980 before a lease is signed. Most of our Madera work comes from operators who got one of the four 2021 ordinances right and one of them wrong.
Madera County straddles the San Joaquin Valley floor and the Sierra Nevada foothills — wine grapes, almonds, pistachios, and dairy dominate the lowlands; cattle, timber, and Yosemite-adjacent recreation define the upper county. The county has two incorporated cities (the City of Madera and Chowchilla) and a population of roughly 160,000. Politically, the county tracks Central Valley conservative; the Board of Supervisors adopted an interim ban shortly after Proposition 64 passed in 2016 and has not reopened unincorporated commercial cannabis since.
The current county posture is Madera County Code Chapter 18.87, which prohibits all forms of commercial cannabis activity — cultivation, manufacturing, distribution, retail — in unincorporated areas of the county. The chapter carves out only personal cultivation: up to 6 indoor plants per residence (adult-use, per statewide Prop 64 floor), and up to 100 sq ft canopy and 10 ft height for medical patients, all within a primary residence. Co-op and collective cultivation is prohibited. Outdoor personal cultivation is prohibited. That's the entire unincorporated pathway — there is no commercial opening at the county level.
The entire commercial market in Madera County runs through the City of Madera. The City adopted its framework in two 2021 phases: Ordinances 976 and 977 on June 16, 2021 (the baseline cannabis-framework ordinances) and Ordinances 979 and 980 on November 1, 2021 (979 governs business permits; 980 governs location and design). The framework permits Standard Retail, Microbusiness, Social Equity retail, Vertically-Integrated operations, Cultivation, Manufacturing, Distribution, and Testing. Caps: all eligible Standard Retail, Microbusiness, and Social Equity permits have been awarded — no new applications accepted in those categories. The remaining categories (vertically-integrated, cultivation, manufacturing, distribution, testing) are not numerically capped; openings are available on a rolling basis subject to location, zoning, and design review.
Chowchilla — Madera County's only other incorporated city — has not adopted a commercial-cannabis ordinance. It should be treated as a ban jurisdiction until the Chowchilla City Clerk confirms otherwise. Assuming Chowchilla follows the City of Madera is a common and expensive mistake among operators evaluating the region. Enforcement in Madera County is primarily Madera County Sheriff (unincorporated) and Madera Police Department (within the City of Madera). Madera is not a priority county for the Unified Cannabis Enforcement Task Force (UCETF) — UCETF totals for Madera are not separately disclosed in Governor's Office releases — but that does not mean enforcement is absent. The County Sheriff continues to act on trespass grows and unpermitted activity; the statewide UCETF 2024 total of $534 million in illegal cannabis seized is the context. For City of Madera permit questions, the Community Development Director (Will Tackett, wtackett@madera.gov) is the current point of contact. For DCC state-license coordination, we run the parallel track alongside the city submission.
Figures sourced from the Madera County Code, the City of Madera cannabis page, and adopted ordinance records. Live license counts shift — verify with the DCC license lookup.
Six inflection points that built Madera's current posture — from the 2016 interim ban through the 2022–2024 City of Madera permit awards.
California legalizes adult-use cannabis. Madera County Board of Supervisors moves to adopt an interim ban in unincorporated areas.
Madera County Code Chapter 18.87 — the permanent commercial-cannabis ban — is codified. Personal cultivation limited to 6 indoor plants / 100 sq ft canopy medical.
City of Madera passes the baseline cannabis-framework ordinances, opening the city to commercial cannabis for the first time.
City adds the business-permit ordinance (979) and the location-and-design ordinance (980) — the packet structure operators file into today.
The City of Madera works through its capped retail application rounds. Standard Retail, Microbusiness, and Social Equity allocations exhausted.
Remaining openings in vertically-integrated operations, cultivation, manufacturing, distribution, and testing — none numerically capped — continue on a rolling basis subject to zoning and design review.
Madera County does not publish a per-type DCC license breakdown. The City of Madera's cannabis framework is the authoritative local source; state counts shift weekly via the DCC Unified License Search filtered to Madera. What's structurally available below.
For City of Madera permit questions, contact Will Tackett, Community Development Director (wtackett@madera.gov, 559-661-5451). We coordinate DCC state licensing (Cultivation Types 1–5B, Manufacturing 6/7, Distribution, Retail, Microbusiness, Testing) in parallel with the Madera local process.
Madera has two incorporated cities. Only the City of Madera permits commercial cannabis; Chowchilla has no framework.
Full framework. Retail + Microbusiness + Social Equity (capped, awarded). Vertically-integrated, cultivation, mfg, distro, testing (uncapped, open). Ords 976/977/979/980.
No commercial-cannabis ordinance adopted. Verify current posture with the City Clerk before assuming any pathway exists.
Sources: Madera County Code Chapter 18.87; City of Madera cannabis page; SJV Sun coverage of the 2021 ordinance rollout; statewide opt-in figures derived from the DCC jurisdiction-permitting tracker.
From City of Madera application packets through DCC issuance, through METRC reconciliation, to enforcement defense if MCSO or Madera PD comes calling — one named team across the entire local-and-state stack.
DCC cultivation, manufacturing, distribution, testing, and vertically-integrated microbusiness licenses coordinated with City of Madera local authorization.
Ordinance 979 business-permit application plus Ordinance 980 location-and-design review, tracked through Community Development.
METRC reconciliation, CDTFA cannabis-tax filings, and annual City of Madera renewal paperwork for vertically-integrated and production licensees.
