Imperial HOA Guide: Local Rules for Boards and Owners

Imperial’s Code Enforcement page says Code Compliance does not handle neighbor disputes or civil problems involving one individual against another, and it lists enforcement of private conditions, covenants and restrictions among them. A CC&R violation is your board’s to handle, through your own notice, hearing and fine process.

Where a problem breaks a city rule too, such as a vacant lot full of dry weeds or a vehicle parked past the city’s limits, it can also be reported to Code Enforcement at 760-355-3310.

The Code Enforcement page says vehicles can be parked on the street or in public view for 120 consecutive hours. It also says no RVs, trailers, semi trucks or buses may park on any street for longer than 24 hours without a permit.

The Police Department’s RV permit page gives a different free period, so read both before you write a rule:

Even with a permit, the vehicle must follow the California Vehicle Code and the Imperial Municipal Code. We did not find anything on boats, on commercial vehicles in residential areas or on whether the city enforces parking on private HOA streets. Call the Police Department at 760-355-4327 before you plan around any of them.

The Finance Department lists six Community Facilities Districts (Mello-Roos), each tied to a subdivision, with fiscal year 2024-25 reports. The report titles refer to special tax bonds.

The same page lists landscape and lighting districts for three more areas: Landscape District No. 1 and Lighting District No. 1 for Paseo del Sol and Wildflower, and Landscape District No. 2 for Skyranch.

We could not open the district reports, so we do not give rates or say exactly what each district pays for. Mello-Roos and landscape district charges are billed separately from association dues, usually on the property tax bill. Check your bill, and call Finance at 760-355-5310 with questions.

One state record shows how these subdivisions were planned. The 2005 environmental notice for Monterrey Park describes 598 detached single-family homes on lots of at least 6,000 square feet, with a park and retention basin area. It does not say who maintains them, which is a good question to answer in your own governing documents.

Imperial’s 2025 water quality report says the city’s supply comes from the Colorado River through the All-American Canal and Imperial Irrigation District (IID) facilities. The city gives it complete treatment, including sedimentation, coagulation, flocculation, filtration and disinfection. IID sells untreated Colorado River water to municipal customers like the city.

The Public Services Department handles water and sewer, streets, storm drainage and streetlights. Utility Billing is at 760-355-1247.

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 recreation area or community space, and grass in street rights-of-way and parking lots is not. The ban does not apply to individual homeowners’ own residential lots.

We could not open the city’s water chapter and did not find a turf replacement rebate. Ask Public Services at 760-355-2155 before you plan a common-area conversion.

The City of Imperial contracts with the Imperial County Fire Department for fire protection and emergency medical services. The station is at 2514 La Brucherie Road.

The Code Enforcement page says vacant lots must be free of trash, debris and dry vegetation, and it lists dead, decayed or diseased weeds, shrubs or brush, and overgrowth likely to harbor rats, mice or other vermin, as violations. We did not find a seasonal weed-abatement deadline.

The City of Imperial does not appear in the State Fire Marshal’s March 24, 2025 list of local acreage recommended for Fire Hazard Severity Zones.

Allied Waste (Republic Services) collects for the city, and the city says all three carts are normally picked up on Wednesday mornings. Items too large or heavy for the carts can be picked up by Allied Waste at no charge. Code Enforcement says carts must sit no more than five feet from the curb and be removed within 24 hours after collection.

The city’s SB 1383 page says commercial properties, including multifamily residential properties, must provide organics and recycling containers to tenants and educate new tenants before or within 14 days of move-in. If your community has shared bins, ask the city how these rules apply to you.

Imperial’s website posts the state Department of Housing and Community Development’s ADU Handbook (January 2025). It spells out what an association can and cannot do:

• HOAs may impose some limited objective standards on an ADU or junior ADU.
• Civil Code sections 714.3 and 4751 make CC&Rs and operating rules void and unenforceable if they effectively prohibit or unreasonably restrict ADUs.
• An HOA may not influence the city’s ministerial approval of an ADU or junior ADU.