Santa Barbara County soon may allow medical marijuana collective storefronts to apply for permits in select areas.

The county’s moratorium is set to expire at the end of this year, so the county Planning Commission last week approved zoning changes that would allow for regulations to be put in place.

The new ordinances first would need the approval of the Board of Supervisors.

The intent is to provide regional, realistic access for those in need of medical marijuana while buffering them from certain areas, such as schools, according to the staff report.

Sites must be outside of buffer zones around schools, parks, day-care centers and other dispensaries, which is standard in ordinances by other jurisdictions. That narrowed the field of potential commercial properties to seven areas: three areas near Santa Maria and Orcutt, one near Vandenberg Village, one in New Cuyama and two in western Santa Barbara near La Cumbre Drive.

To apply, potential owners must provide the county Planning and Development Department with the address, an operating plan — including security, signage and lighting — and a business plan.

The City of Santa Barbara, which already has permitted dispensaries within its limits, went through a much longer, involved process to come up with its permitting criteria.

— Noozhawk staff writer Giana Magnoli can be reached at gmagnoli@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.