Fullerton HOA Guide: Local Rules for Boards and Owners

Fullerton adopted short-term rental rules in Ordinance No. 3289 in October 2020. It amended Titles 4 and 15 of the Municipal Code to set up permits, collect transient occupancy tax and create an enforcement and revocation process. The City Council then capped whole-house permits:

• Resolution No. 2020-93 (October 20, 2020): no more than 325 whole-house short-term rental permits citywide. The resolution says the council wants to protect the city’s housing for long-term rentals and home ownership.
• Resolution No. 2021-30 (May 18, 2021): the cap was lowered to no more than 100 whole-house permits citywide.
• Good Neighbor Guidelines: the city’s guidelines for guests ask for quiet between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m., overnight parking in the driveway, garage or carport and trash containers put away within 24 hours of pickup. Guests can be cited or fined under the Municipal Code.

We could not open the short-term rental chapter of the Municipal Code, and we could not confirm on an official city page whether Fullerton is issuing new permits today. Ask Code Enforcement at (714) 738-6553 before you assume a listing in your community is legal.

Your association can set its own rule. California Civil Code section 4741 limits how far an association can restrict rentals, but it does not stop an association from prohibiting rentals of 30 days or less. A clear rule in your documents gives owners a straight answer whatever the city’s permit status.

A permit does not reserve a space or excuse other rules, such as the 72-hour limit, street sweeping or posted time limits. A block can ask the city to exempt its street with a petition signed by a majority of owners on both sides and a $475 non-refundable fee, but the city grants exemptions only where there is an off-street parking shortage under its ordinances.

On private property, the city says an RV may be parked in a driveway only if there is no direct vehicle access to a side or rear yard and it does not stick out into the sidewalk or street. It may not be lived in. Parking on lawns, sidewalks or parkways is not allowed, and a vehicle left on a street for more than 72 hours can be towed.

Here is the part that matters for boards. The permit program shuts out private-street addresses, so it will not help residents of a gated or private-street community. Parking on your own streets is governed by your rules and state towing law. The city says Code Enforcement handles parking violations only on private property, and the Police Traffic Division handles public streets.

Fullerton is not a member agency of the Municipal Water District of Orange County (MWDOC), so its water rules come from the city. The city’s conservation page says standard conservation measures are being enforced and asks customers to voluntarily cut use by 15%. It does not list the measures. The watering schedule in the city’s conservation FAQ was written for the Level 2 drought rules of June 2022, so we could not confirm which watering days apply today. Call the city’s Water Smart line at (714) 738-6744 before you reset irrigation controllers.

Fullerton’s rebates run through SoCal Water$mart, the Metropolitan Water District’s regional program. The city lists rebates for smart sprinkler timers, rotating nozzles, toilets and turf removal. The program’s commercial turf page, which names homeowner associations among the properties affected by the turf law, lists these terms:

Under AB 1572, the 2023 state law on watering nonfunctional turf with drinking water, HOA and common interest development common areas must stop by January 1, 2029. The State Water Board says functional turf is mowed grass in a recreational area or community space, while grass along roads, in parking areas or fenced off from people is nonfunctional. As general good practice, map which common-area turf is which before you plan the work.

The Fullerton Fire Department says the City Council adopted updated Fire Hazard Severity Zones on May 6, 2025, and placed them in Municipal Code chapter 13.19. A property can fall in a Moderate, High or Very High zone. CAL FIRE’s March 2025 recommendations for Fullerton’s local area list 1,516 acres as Very High, 419 as High and 426 as Moderate. The city’s map viewer shows the zone for each address.

In Fullerton’s Very High zones, clearing brush and flammable material is required by law. The department points to state law (Public Resources Code section 4291), which calls for 100 feet of defensible space around buildings, or to the property line if that is closer. Its guidance includes:

• Zone 0, the first 5 feet: remove dead plants, debris and mulch, use hardscape instead of bark and replace combustible fencing or gates attached to the building.
• Zone 1, 5 to 30 feet: remove dead vegetation, keep plants other than trees under 4 feet and keep tree branches at least 5 feet from roofs and walls.
• Zone 2, 30 to 100 feet: mow annual grass to 4 inches or less and thin natural vegetation to slow a fire.
• Trees and chimneys: prune branches to 6 feet above the ground and keep 10 feet of clearance from chimneys.

One rule is easy to miss. Brush clearing in sensitive habitats, including coastal sage scrub, is restricted from February 15 through August 15 unless the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has given permission, and a biological survey may be needed first. Check this before your slope contractor schedules spring work.

The state is still writing its Zone 0 rules, and the city says it will post them once they are final. A seller of a home in a High or Very High zone must provide documentation of a defensible space inspection (Civil Code section 1102.19). Questions go to Fire Prevention at (714) 738-6500.

Fullerton Code Enforcement handles unsafe structures, construction without permits, property maintenance such as outside storage and inoperable vehicles, illegal signs and other Municipal Code violations. Its page lists civil matters it does not enforce, including property line disputes, tree roots and blocked views. Repair or modification disputes between an owner and the HOA are on that list too, unless the home is tenant-occupied or the work was done without a permit.

For a board, that means the city will not referee an architectural or maintenance dispute with an owner. Your governing documents and the state’s dispute resolution rules do that work. If an owner builds without a city permit, though, Code Enforcement can step in.

Complaints can be left any time at (714) 773-5704 and are picked up the next business day. The main Code Enforcement line is (714) 738-6553, and the Building Division is at (714) 738-6541. We could not open the city’s noise page, so this guide does not give construction hours or a leaf blower rule. Ask Code Enforcement before you schedule early or weekend work.