Madera HOA Guide: Local Rules for Boards and Owners

The City of Madera is the water supplier. Its posted Water Use Regulations set watering days by street address:

Fines start at $75 for a first violation and reach $500 for a third. The city changes an assigned watering day only in rare cases, and drip systems follow the same days, except drip-watered vegetable gardens.

The city’s pages did not agree on the current stage when we checked. The Water Use Regulations page says Stage B rules have been in effect since September 6, 2017. The main Water and Sewer page says the city is at Level C. Call Water Conservation at (559) 661-5466 to confirm your days before you reprogram controllers.

Rebates are first come, first served, each account gets one turf rebate and the city can change or end the program without notice. Large common areas will outgrow the 1,000 square foot cap, so plan the rest of the work as a budget item.

A state law passed in 2023 (AB 1572) bars the use of drinking water on nonfunctional turf in HOA common areas starting January 1, 2029. On owners’ own lots, Civil Code section 4735 prevents an association from banning low-water plants or artificial turf.

Madera formed its City-Wide Landscape and Lighting Assessment District in June 1991 under the state’s Landscaping and Lighting Act of 1972. The district is split into zones of benefit, and owners in each zone pay for the upkeep of the landscaping that serves them.

• The city’s Parks and Community Services Department manages the district.
• The city says it covers landscaping, streetlights and sidewalks, including lawn care, tree trimming, irrigation and lighting.
• A 2019 council staff report lists median islands, certain park strips, frontage road islands and certain landscaped out-lots.
• The city files each year’s assessments with the Madera County Auditor, so the charge reaches owners through the county, not through your dues.

New tracts often join an existing zone. In the 2019 report, owners had signed covenants agreeing to yearly increases equal to a construction cost index plus two percent, and the city said it was trying to slow the growth in the number of zones.

This matters when you bid out landscaping. If the city maintains the medians and parkways along your entry road, your contractor should not be paid to do the same work. Pull your tract map and ask Parks and Community Services which strips belong to the zone and which belong to the association.

The city has two community facilities districts for public services, CFD No. 2005-1 and CFD No. 2013-1. Their special taxes help pay for police and fire protection, park maintenance and storm drain operations. New residential tracts not in the original districts must annex before the final subdivision map is recorded.

The city notes that the tax provides only partial funding for police and fire. Owners sometimes mistake these lines on the tax bill for HOA charges. They are not, and the association has no say over them.

The city’s FAQ says property owners are responsible for maintaining street trees, and that removing one requires a replacement from the city’s approved species list. Approval goes through Parks and Community Services at (559) 661-5495.

If your association owns or maintains parkway strips, that responsibility likely lands on the association. Do not let a tree contractor take out a street tree without city approval.

The Public Works Streets Division runs a leaf cleanup each winter, starting in early January and lasting about four weeks, weather permitting. Leaves go in the green cart first. Extra leaves can be piled about one foot from the curb on your section’s dates, with the gutter left clear. Piles mixed with bottles, cans, boards, limbs, brush or rocks are left behind.

Mid Valley Disposal collects trash in Madera. Carts are gray for trash, blue for recycling and green for yard waste, food scraps and soiled paper.

The city’s organics page says that under SB 1383, multifamily communities, businesses and single-family homes must all divert organic waste, and local agencies may enforce penalties starting January 1, 2024. Mid Valley Disposal has an online form for reporting missing organics service or missing bin signs.

The yearly citywide curbside cleanup is for single-family homes only. It does not include multifamily dwellings, commercial businesses or unincorporated county areas. In 2026 it ran February 16 to 27 in Zone 1 and March 2 to 13 in Zone 2, with piles no bigger than 5 by 5 by 10 feet.

The city’s FAQ says fireworks are only allowed on the Fourth of July, and only those with a State Fire Marshal Safe and Sane label. The city has an online Illegal Fireworks Reporter.

Your association can be stricter in its own rules, for example by banning fireworks near common-area landscaping, clubhouses or carports. A reminder in the June newsletter costs nothing and heads off complaints.