Chip Guy, the Sussex County spokesman, said Stark was mistaken in believing the county was awarding her a building permit.

“To be clear, the county DID NOT issue a building permit,’’ Guy said in an emailed response to questions about The Farm’s bid to put astore in Sussex.

Guy said an official “notified the applicant that the building plan review [tenant fit-out] had cleared initial steps. That is but one step that is part of the process in determining whether to issue a building permit in the first place.”

Guy said the county’s “due diligence’’ found that The Farm’s location simply did not qualify for approval.

Stark remains flabbergasted by the decision, saying she had relied on the state’s approval of the location as well as the state’s identified patient need for that area of Sussex.

“In my mind, when they approved that location and we started spending money and had rent to pay, and drawings put together, and had to start seeking other approvals and permits, it was an established use,” Stark said.

Robert Coupe, the state’s marijuana commissioner, said the state’s hands are tied as long as the current state law remains in effect.

“There’s nothing for me to do. They have to fight that fight,’’ Coupe said of Stark.

Coupe, whose office will soon issue 30 licenses for retail recreational marijuana stores statewide, added that Sussex’s “three-mile buffer, as it currently exists, definitely presents challenges for our selected applicants” in Sussex, where 10 retail licenses will be granted.

“If it appears that it will be difficult for them to find areas to operate, probably a focus for them will be on specific towns that have said they will allow operations,” he said.

Guy, who has not agreed to do any interviews on the Sussex law, wrote last month that he disagrees with the assertion that no parcels exist in unincorporated Sussex for retail stores. Yet he would not identify any permitted sites, or consent to a request by WHYY News to analyze the zoning map to find any.

Stark said she has spoken to a lawyer about her options, and if her efforts fail, is also considering whether to find a site elsewhere in Sussex, perhaps within the town limits of Frankford, which hasn’t banned cannabis stores.

“It’s ridiculous,’’ Stark said of her company’s predicament in Sussex. “And more people just need to know it’s ridiculous.”