Calabasas HOA Guide: Local Rules for Boards and Owners

A City Planning Commission staff report dated May 6, 2021 says the city prohibits short-term home rentals of 30 days or less. It says the prohibitions were adopted in 2018 and 2020 and asks the Commission whether to draft exceptions. The report cites Chapter 5.20 of the municipal code, which bars advertising unlawful short-term, transient and vacation rentals.

That report is five years old, and we could not open the current code. We do not know whether the City Council later adopted exceptions. Read Chapter 5.20 on the city’s municipal code site and confirm the current rule with Code Enforcement at (818) 224-1723 before you act on it.

The same report points to two other chapters that matter to boards dealing with party houses: Chapter 9.28 on loud, unnecessary and unusual noise, and Chapter 9.36 on unruly gatherings on residential property. We did not read their text.

The city regulates RVs under Ordinances 2008-249 for private property and 2008-250 for public property. As the city describes them:

• A street-parking pass is required. Passes are free and last up to 72 hours at a time, with no more than two in 30 days and eight per calendar year for each owner, unless the Director authorizes more.
• An RV stored in a side yard needs a 5-foot emergency pathway.
• An RV visible from public view must be screened, and RV storage is limited to 400 square feet.
• Fines start at $100 a day and can be issued by the city or the Sheriff.

Passes come from the Permit Center at (818) 224-1600. We did not find the city’s rules for other vehicles, such as the 72-hour rule for ordinary cars.

Calabasas protects oaks under its Oak Tree Ordinance, Chapter 17.32 of the municipal code. The city asks you to contact Planning before any pruning or removal of an oak, and before construction or earthwork with oaks within 200 feet.

An Oak Tree Permit is required to remove certain trees, to prune any oak, to encroach into a protected zone or to repair improvements in a protected zone. A Minor (Healthy) Oak Tree Permit covers items such as:

• Fuel modification pruning, which needs official agency documentation checked by city staff.
• Routine maintenance.
• Trees under 6 inches in diameter within 40 feet of a primary structure.

No permit is needed for oaks under 2 inches in diameter (unless they are scrub oak habitat or mitigation trees), for damage from a natural disaster verified by staff, or for utility emergency and routine work. Pruning and Oak Tree Reports require an ISA-certified arborist. Owners must keep oaks and scrub oak habitat healthy.

Water service comes from the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District (LVMWD), at (818) 251-2100. The district’s permanent restrictions are:

• No watering from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• No irrigation during rain or for 48 hours after measurable rain.
• No runoff onto streets, gutters or neighboring property.
• No potable water to wash sidewalks, parking areas or driveways.
• A trigger nozzle on car-wash hoses.
• Recirculating pumps on fountains and water features.

Fines within a 12-month period: a written notice for the first violation, $100 for the second, $200 for the third and $500 for the fourth. After a fifth, the district may install a flow restriction device or end service. The district’s page lists no assigned watering days.

The district also notes that AB 1572 stops the use of potable water for nonfunctional turf at most commercial, industrial and institutional properties, including HOA common areas. Confirm the start date and any phase-in with the district before you plan. LVMWD’s rebate page lists four categories: turf, weather-based irrigation controllers, indoor appliances and cisterns of 450 gallons or more. It gives no amounts, caps or HOA eligibility rules, so ask the district before you plan a project around a rebate.

Los Angeles County Fire does the inspecting and enforcing. The city’s brush clearance page says structures in a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone must meet clearance rules, and that this covers essentially the entire Santa Monica Mountains. It also says roughly 60,000 parcels countywide were newly added to the inspection list.

The city’s page describes a 0 to 5 foot ember-resistant zone next to structures and more intensive fuel reduction from 5 to 30 feet. It says to store firewood and compost 30 feet or more from structures, remove tree parts within 10 feet of a chimney outlet and keep roofs clear of leaves and needles.

County Fire’s 2026 annual notice, which lists Calabasas, gives these countywide figures:

• Inspections start April 1 in desert areas, May 1 in inland areas and June 1 in coastal areas.
• You have 30 days from an Official Inspection Report to comply.
• Noncompliance brings a $500 fine. A $151 inspection fee and a $1,647 enforcement assessment go on the tax bill.
• The notice describes 30 feet of clearance and thinning to 100 feet, and 50 and 200 feet in extra-hazard areas, plus 10 feet on each side of fire access roads.

The state’s Zone Zero rules under AB 3074 were not final at the time of the notice. Because the city page and the County notice are written differently, confirm the distances for your property with the Defensible Space Unit at (626) 969-2375. Oak fuel-modification pruning also needs an oak permit (see above).

A city notice dated January 2007 says construction under building permits is limited to Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. It says no work is allowed on Sundays or federal holidays, and that an HOA may impose stricter rules. The notice gives no municipal code section for these hours.

Because the notice is almost 20 years old, confirm the current hours with the Permit Center at (818) 224-1600 before you put them in a rule or tell a contractor. The notice also reprints Los Angeles County Code 12.12.030 on loud construction equipment on Sundays and from 8 p.m. to 6:30 a.m.

We did not find the city’s current rules on leaf blowers.

The Public Works Landscape District Division runs five districts:

• LMD 22 is funded by an ad valorem tax and covers Calabasas Lake, Association Park, parkways, medians and open space.
• LLAD 22 is funded by assessments from member HOA communities and the commercial district, and pays for common-area landscaping in those communities.
• LLAD 24 covers the Lost Hills Road and Calabasas Hills Road area, including right-of-way landscaping, open space slopes, creek banks and annual weed abatement.
• LLAD 27 covers part of Las Virgenes Road and a block of Thousand Oaks Boulevard.
• LLAD 32 covers 19 commercial parcels.

Check your tax bill to see which district, if any, applies to your parcel. Ask the city whether the district already maintains areas your CC&Rs also assign to the association.

Separately, the city’s FAQ says Calabasas has no rent control. Owners of four or more residential rental units must register with Community Development and report rents each year, and must give 60 days’ notice before a rent increase of 5% or more on a registered unit. The city does not require a business license.