California Business and Professions Code §26054 bars cannabis businesses within 600 feet of schools, day cares, and youth centers; Orange County and most OC cities apply the buffer or ban cannabis outright.
Proposition 64 established a statewide minimum 600-foot buffer between any licensed cannabis retailer, manufacturer, or cultivator and the closest property line of a K-12 school, day care, or youth center. OC unincorporated areas ban commercial cannabis altogether under OCCO Title 7 zoning, and 31 of 34 OC cities likewise prohibit storefronts. The few cities allowing licensed delivery or storefront (such as Costa Mesa for non-retail and Santa Ana for retail) layer additional buffers on top of the 600-foot state floor, often 1,000 feet from sensitive sites. Buffers are measured property line to property line.
Operating inside a buffer is unlicensed activity, subject to immediate closure, civil penalties up to $30,000 per day, and revocation by the CA Department of Cannabis Control.
Orange County, CA
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See how Orange County's buffer zones rules stack up against other locations.
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