La Habra, CA Cannabis Regulations: Buffer Zones (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing section
- LHMC § 18.22.080.A
- Buffer distance
- 600 feet from schools, day care, youth centers, parks
- Protected park size
- Minimum 0.6 acres
- Measurement method
- Along public street, property line to property line
- Adjacency rule
- No cannabis site immediately adjacent to protected use
Summary
In the City of La Habra, no commercial cannabis facility may sit within six hundred feet of a K-12 school, day care center, youth center or public park of at least zero point six acres. Municipal Code § 18.22.080.A measures that buffer along the public street from the nearest property lines, and separately bars any cannabis site from being immediately adjacent to one of those protected uses.
All commercial cannabis facilities shall not be located within six hundred feet of a school providing instruction in kindergarten or any grades one through twelve, day care center, youth center or public park (minimum 0.6 acres in size). All distances shall be measured from the property where the facility is proposed to a school, day care center, youth center or public park (minimum 0.6 acres in size) is located along any public street/roadway from the nearest point of the property, which the commercial cannabis facility is to be located, to the nearest property line of those uses describe in this subsection. No property containing a commercial cannabis operation can be immediately adjacent to a property containing a school, day care center, youth center or public park (minimum 0.6 acres in size).
Full Breakdown
Section 18.22.080.A of the La Habra Municipal Code sets the siting buffer for every commercial cannabis facility permitted under Chapter 18.22, whether a dispensary, non-storefront retailer, distribution facility, manufacturer or testing laboratory. No facility can be located within six hundred feet of a school offering kindergarten through twelfth-grade instruction, a day care center, a youth center, or a public park of at least zero point six acres. The city measures that distance along the public street or roadway, from the nearest point of the cannabis facility's property to the nearest property line of the protected use, rather than as a straight-line radius.
The same subsection adds a separate, absolute rule on top of the six-hundred-foot measurement: a cannabis property can never be immediately adjacent to a parcel containing a school, day care center, youth center or qualifying public park, even where the two lots simply share a property line. Both restrictions apply in addition to the requirement that a facility sit within a zone the chapter designates and hold a conditional use permit (§ 18.22.080.A first sentence), and they are assessed by the community development director when reviewing a cannabis conditional use permit application before it reaches the planning commission.
Violations & Fines
A conditional use permit application for a site within the six-hundred-foot buffer, or immediately adjacent to a school, day care center, youth center or qualifying park, does not comply with § 18.22.080.A and cannot be approved by the planning commission. An operator that begins commercial cannabis activity on a noncompliant site is treated as an illegal marijuana-related use subject to abatement under § 18.22.010.A, and a general Municipal Code violation is a misdemeanor under § 1.08.010, punishable by up to a five-hundred-dollar fine and six months in jail.
Frequently Asked Questions
How far must a cannabis business be from a school in La Habra?
Does the buffer count parks of any size?
Can a cannabis business sit next to a protected use if it's more than 600 feet away by road?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in La Habra
California rules heatmap·Compare La Habra to another location·View the California cannabis regulations overview
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