Hercules HOA Guide: Local Rules for Boards and Owners

The city’s districts fund landscaping, street lighting, fire breaks next to open space and the upkeep of city parks, from playgrounds and fields to trails and lighting. Each district or zone pays for the work in its own area, plus a share of the landscaping and lights on the main roads.

The 2023 report found several of them running short. It projected negative balances in three zones of District 83-2 and in the Victoria by the Bay district, and pointed to irrigation, tree pruning and a 46% rise in EBMUD water rates over five years. Owners in six zones of District 83-2 approved increases between 2017 and 2022.

For a board, the question is what happens at the edge of the association’s land. If a district cuts back, the planting strips and entries next to your community may get less care, and owners will ask the board about it. Know which parcels are yours, which are the district’s and which rate your zone pays.

The Victoria by the Bay district is the clearest example. Its 2025-26 engineer’s report covers 839 parcels and pays for neighborhood landscaping and street lights, Victoria Park and Arbor Park and a share of the main roads. The maximum assessment for a single-family home was $633.62 going into that year.

• The report budgeted about $590,000 in revenue against about $703,000 in costs, with $230,000 of that for water.
• It projected a negative balance of about $702,000 at the start of the year.
• Owners rejected increases in fall 2023, by 77% to 23%, and again in spring 2024, by 70.3% to 29.7%.
• A third proposal, adding $50 a year for 10 years, went to a hearing on June 24, 2025. The report said that without it, cost-cutting on the planting strips in front of homes would begin July 1, 2025.

The city’s page for the district says a ballot did not pass and that services will be reduced. Check that page for where things stand now.

Whatever the outcome, the lesson applies in every Hercules neighborhood. A district’s level of service is set by a vote of owners, not by the association, and the board should explain that plainly when the landscaping changes.

The traffic chapter says nothing about enforcement on private streets. If your association owns its streets or alleys, parking there is governed mainly by your own rules and by state towing law.

Chapter 4-15 bars removing a mature tree, one of 12 inches or more in trunk diameter, on undeveloped or partially developed property. The chapter says the City Council does not intend to restrict tree removal by residential property owners. Trees in district-maintained strips and parks are the city’s to manage, so do not let an association vendor prune or remove them.

The nuisance chapter, 4-10, covers what Code Enforcement can act on. It includes overgrown vegetation, dead or hazardous trees and weeds, garbage cans kept in front or side yards in view of the street and unregistered or dismantled vehicles. An abatement notice gives 15 to 30 days, and unpaid city abatement costs become a lien.

Buildings of five or more units must provide recycling and organics service and remind residents about it every year.

The Rodeo-Hercules Fire Protection District became part of Contra Costa County Fire Protection District on July 1, 2025. Some city pages still show the old district’s name. Con Fire lists Hercules among the areas its weed abatement program serves and takes complaints through an online form.

The district says its weed abatement season usually runs from May through October and that parcels must be kept up for the whole season. Cut limbs and mulch piles belong at least 30 feet from buildings. Associations that own open space or vacant lots should budget for more than one pass.

We found no short-term rental ordinance in the Hercules Municipal Code. The city collects a 10% transient occupancy tax on stays of 30 days or less, and the ADU rules in section 13-35.320 set a 30-day minimum rental term. California Civil Code section 4741 limits how far an association can restrict rentals generally, but it does not stop an association from prohibiting rentals of 30 days or less.

ADUs can be up to 850 square feet with one bedroom or 1,000 square feet with more, and junior ADUs up to 500 square feet. For boards, the state rule matters more than the city one. Civil Code section 4751 voids CC&R provisions that prohibit or unreasonably restrict an ADU or junior ADU on a lot zoned for single-family use. An association can still apply reasonable restrictions through its architectural review process.

The city’s district reports cite EBMUD water rates as a main driver of landscape costs, and the same is true for an association’s common areas. EBMUD’s lawn conversion rebate pays $1 per square foot, or $2 per square foot for projects that meet its ecological standards and are planted between September and February. The cap in any two-year period is $15,000 for commercial and large multi-family accounts and $2,000 for single-family and small multi-family accounts. EBMUD decides which class an association’s account falls in, so ask before you plan around the larger figure. The project cannot start until EBMUD approves it in writing, and artificial turf does not qualify.

A state law passed in 2023 (AB 1572) will bar the use of drinking water on nonfunctional turf in HOA common areas starting January 1, 2029. A board with decorative lawn can use a rebate to pay for part of a conversion it will have to make anyway.

On owners’ lots, Civil Code section 4735 prevents an association from banning low-water plants or artificial turf as a replacement for lawn.