Pleasanton HOA Guide: Local Rules for Boards and Owners

Pleasanton has no short-term rental chapter or permit in its municipal code. What the zoning code does say:

• Transient occupancy means a stay of 30 consecutive days or less (section 18.08.567).
• In R-1 districts, a one-family dwelling may use no more than two guest sleeping rooms for lodging or boarding (section 18.32.030).
• A small bed and breakfast needs a conditional use permit (section 18.32.040).
• A use the chapter does not list is prohibited unless the city makes a determination allowing it (section 18.32.050).
• An ADU must be rented for at least 30 days at a time (section 18.106.030).

The city’s website has no short-term rental page, so call the Planner on Duty at (925) 437-4009 and ask how the city treats the case in front of you. In practice, your CC&Rs are the clearer tool. 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.

The city’s ADU rules are in Chapter 18.106, last amended in October 2025. The size limits are 850 square feet for a studio or one-bedroom unit and 1,000 square feet for a larger one, with junior ADUs capped at 500 square feet. Detached units are generally limited to 16 feet in height with 4-foot side and rear setbacks. ADUs must be rented for at least 30 days at a time, and the chapter notes that a planned unit development may allow greater heights.

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.

Street parking is in Chapter 11.36. Parking on a residential lot is in the zoning code:

Two cautions. Many association neighborhoods are zoned PUD, where the standards come from the approved plan, so ask Planning which rules cover your tract. And the city splits the work: Code Enforcement handles vehicles on private lots, Pleasanton Police handle on-street parking, and neither enforces CC&R or HOA violations. If your association owns its streets, parking is governed mainly by your own rules and by state towing law.

Pleasanton runs its own water utility and buys its water from Zone 7 Water Agency. The city’s Water Management Plan, Chapter 9.30, has rules that apply at all times:

• Schedule regular irrigation between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. Watering with drinking water between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. is unlawful water waste, except by hand or drip.
• No runoff onto adjacent property, and no hosing down sidewalks, driveways or parking lots.
• No irrigation during measurable rain or for 48 hours after.
• Repair a break in your plumbing within eight hours of learning about it.

Watering-day limits come with the shortage stage, which the City Council declares by resolution:

Higher stages are stricter. Ask the Water Conservation Program at (925) 931-5525 which stage is in effect and what it means for a common-area irrigation account, and give the answer to your landscape contractor in writing. If you are in the city’s recycled water use area, the code also bars using drinking water through a dedicated irrigation meter unless the city grants an exemption.

Two points matter for the budget. First, Zone 7’s lawn conversion rebate puts HOA common areas under its commercial rate: $2 per square foot, up to $20,000. Zone 7 or the city must issue a Notice to Proceed before any lawn comes out. When we checked, Zone 7 was placing applications on a waitlist and said funding may become available beginning in July 2027. The city has its own lawn conversion and irrigation controller rebates too, so ask what an irrigation account can combine. Second, 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 should price the conversion now and get on the rebate list.

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

Under Chapter 17.16, a tree is protected by size, not just by species. A single-trunk native tree is protected at 37 inches in circumference and a non-native tree at 55 inches, measured four and a half feet above the ground. Removing one requires a city permit, and only the property owner or an authorized representative may apply. Expect to replant at least one 15-gallon tree for each one removed.

Routine pruning needs no permit, but it must be supervised by an ISA certified arborist, and topping is not allowed without approval. In an emergency a tree can come out first, with notice to the city at the earliest opportunity. Unpermitted removal carries a civil penalty of $100 per inch of trunk circumference or the tree’s appraised value, whichever is greater, and the owner who hired the contractor is responsible for paying it.

The Livermore-Pleasanton Fire Department runs an annual vegetation management program. Its goal is hazardous vegetation removed by May 31 each year. Notices go out in early spring, inspections run in June and in July the city clears properties that did not comply and bills the owner, with liens for unpaid balances. Associations that own open space or undeveloped lots should expect that notice and budget for the work.

On developed lots, overgrown or dead vegetation visible from the street is a property maintenance violation under section 9.28.020, handled by Code Enforcement.

The fire department says properties in Moderate, High or Very High fire hazard severity zones face stricter vegetation standards. Look up your common-area addresses on its fire hazard severity zone map, and ask the department at (925) 454-2361 what applies to each one.

Gasoline-powered leaf blowers have been unlawful in Pleasanton since June 1, 2024 (Chapter 9.06). Write that into your landscape contract.

The noise ordinance, Chapter 9.04, limits noise on residential property to 60 dBA at the property line. Equipment that stays under 70 dBA at 25 feet is exempt from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., and from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sundays and holidays. Permitted construction is allowed during the same hours within its own noise limits. Your own rules can set shorter hours.

Chapter 9.27 applies to any property with three or more attached homes, owned or rented. Smoking is prohibited in all common areas, indoors and out, and on private balconies, decks, patios and porches.

A first violation gets a warning, and enforcement is at the city’s discretion. City staff may ask the association for its rules to help. If your CC&Rs are stricter than the ordinance, the CC&Rs control and it is the association or an owner who enforces them.