Laguna Hills HOA Guide: Local Rules for Boards and Owners

Laguna Hills prohibits short-term rentals in all residential zones under Zoning and Development Code section 9-10.050 and Municipal Code Chapter 6-40, which Ordinance No. 2023-2 added on April 25, 2023. The city says it has never permitted short-term rentals, and its page says there are no exemptions.

• Definition: renting any dwelling, unit or room, in whole or in part, for less than 30 consecutive calendar days. The rule also reaches accessory structures, ADUs and RVs.
• Shortened leases: a rental first written for 30 days or more and later amended to end sooner counts as a short-term rental.
• Hotels excluded: city-approved hotels, motels and bed and breakfasts are not covered.
• Fines: once a violation is verified, the city may fine $1,000 for each offense.

Report a suspected rental through the city’s online Request Tracker or to Code Enforcement at (949) 707-2663, with the address and the details that suggest a rental. Your association can also prohibit short rentals in its own documents. California Civil Code section 4741 does not stop an association from prohibiting rentals of 30 days or less.

These hours come from the city’s FAQ, which does not cite a code section, say whether landscape maintenance counts or mention leaf blowers. To report work outside the hours, call Orange County Sheriff’s dispatch at (949) 770-6011, and a deputy is sent to stop the work. Write the hours into your vendor contracts so crews know them.

The city contracts with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department for law enforcement. Its FAQ says a vehicle parked on a street for more than 72 hours may be considered abandoned. Call Sheriff’s dispatch at (949) 770-6011 with the location and description. Deputies check the registration and mark the tires, and if the vehicle is still there 72 hours later it may be cited and towed at the owner’s expense. For a vehicle towed in Laguna Hills, the Police Services administrative sergeant is at (949) 707-2642.

For private property, the city offers a Trespass Authorization Arrest Form. Once it is notarized and on file with the administrative sergeant, deputies can act on trespassing without asking the property owner first. Ask whether your association can file one for its common areas.

We did not find a city page on RV or oversized vehicle parking, or on parking enforcement on private association streets. On your own streets, your parking rules and towing policy do the work.

Moulton Niguel Water District (MNWD) lists Laguna Hills among the cities it serves, and El Toro Water District (ETWD) serves portions of the city. Check the bill for each irrigation meter, because the rules and rebates differ.

ETWD rules. ETWD is at Level 0, normal water conditions, and its permanent conservation requirements apply at all times:

• Irrigate only between 6 p.m. and 9 a.m.
• No irrigation with drinking water during rain or for 48 hours after.
• No runoff onto sidewalks, driveways, streets or gutters.
• Fix leaks, breaks or malfunctions within 5 days, and keep fountains recirculating.
• No drinking water on nonfunctional turf on properties covered by state law.

MNWD rules. We could not find MNWD’s watering-hour rules on its site, so ask its Water Efficiency team at (949) 448-4025.

ETWD turf rebates need a Letter to Proceed before any work starts, turf already removed does not qualify, recycled-water sites are not eligible and processing takes 6 to 12 weeks. MNWD says artificial turf is not eligible for its turf incentive.

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 that grass in street rights-of-way and parking lots is nonfunctional. Associations with more than 5,000 square feet of irrigated common area must also self-certify compliance by June 30, 2031.

The Orange County Fire Authority provides the city’s fire service. The city says CAL FIRE’s Office of the State Fire Marshal has updated the fire hazard severity zone maps for local areas, including Laguna Hills, for the first time since 2007. The city’s page does not name the neighborhoods in each zone, so look up each common-area address on the city’s map. What the zones mean, as the city describes them:

• Very high: new buildings need 100 feet of defensible space and ignition-resistant construction (Chapter 7A of the California Building Code), and sellers must make natural hazard disclosures.
• High: new buildings need ignition-resistant construction, and sellers must make natural hazard disclosures. The city says defensible space rules do not currently apply.
• Moderate: no current requirements.

Weed abatement. The city usually checks properties for weeds in March and mails a Notice to Destroy Weeds in April to owners where weeds were seen. An owner who gets one must clear weeds and dead, overgrown or dried-out vegetation within 100 feet of any structure, including a neighbor’s, by the date in the notice, and remove fire-prone plants such as pampas grass, mustard, thistle and tumbleweed. If the work is not done, the city’s contractor clears the property and the owner pays. Questions go to (949) 707-2651.

OCFA’s Ready, Set, Go program offers free wildfire home assessments and defensible space advice at (714) 573-6774.

CR&R is the city’s hauler. Under SB 1383, food scraps have gone in the green cart with yard waste since July 1, 2022, while palm fronds, logs and stumps stay out of it. Items in the wrong cart bring a hang tag from CR&R, and the city’s FAQ lists fines for accounts that do not take part of up to $50 for a first conviction, $100 for a second within a year and $250 for a third or later.

Residential containers may go to the curb no earlier than 24 hours before collection and must be brought back in afterward (Municipal Code section 5-32.040). If your association arranges shared trash service, ask CR&R how the organics rules apply to your common bins.