San Clemente HOA Guide: Local Rules for Boards and Owners

San Clemente regulates rentals of 29 days or fewer under Municipal Code section 17.28.292 and collects a 10% transient occupancy tax under Chapter 3.24. There are two kinds:

• Short-term lodging units are allowed only in certain mixed-use and multifamily zones shown on the city’s map, and only while less than 20% of housing units are permitted for short-term lodging. The permit is a one-time $140, plus a $105 annual operating license.
• Short-term apartment rentals are allowed elsewhere only in a single-owner apartment building where the owner or a qualified manager lives on site. The permit is $536, plus the $105 license.

The part that matters most to boards is on the operating license application. It asks whether an HOA governs the property, and if one does, the applicant must submit written approval of the use from the HOA’s governing body. Expect owners to ask the board for that letter, and decide in advance who signs it and on what terms.

License conditions include guest parking on site, no parties or events, a 24-hour contact who can respond on site within 30 minutes, and written notice to owners within 300 feet. Report violations to Code Compliance at (949) 366-4705.

Your own CC&Rs can be stricter. California Civil Code section 4741 does not stop an association from prohibiting rentals of 30 days or less.

Under Municipal Code section 17.64.080, an oversized vehicle is one more than 20 feet long, 9 feet high or 7 feet wide. On a residential lot:

• Oversized vehicles, boats and trailers must sit at least 20 feet back from the curb on a surfaced area with partial screening.
• An oversized vehicle may use the required driveway only if it is self-powered and operable. Boats and trailers may not be stored there.
• Owners get up to six loading round trips a year, each with 48 hours to load and 48 hours to unload.

Enforcement is split. City Code Compliance handles RVs on private property, and the Orange County Sheriff’s Department handles parking on public streets. On private association streets, your own rules and state towing law do the work, and the city’s street sweeping does not cover them.

City water customers. The city rescinded its Level 2 water alert on April 18, 2023, but its permanent water-waste rules in Chapter 13.12 still apply, including no irrigation runoff. The city’s rebates for lawn replacement, drip conversion and smart timers are for single-family homes only. The city sends commercial accounts, including HOA common areas, to the Municipal Water District of Orange County’s programs at (714) 593-5036.

Santa Margarita Water District customers, including Talega. The district’s permanent rules under Ordinance 2021-05-05:

• Landscape watering only between 6 p.m. and 8 a.m. Hand watering with a shutoff nozzle and drip are exempt.
• No irrigation during rain or for 48 hours after.
• No hosing of hardscape, and leaks fixed within 7 days.

The district has a page for HOAs and large landscapes. It offers free irrigation surveys for sites of an acre or more, a performance-based landscape contract template and presentations to HOA boards. Its commercial turf rebate is up to $2 per square foot, capped at 50,000 square feet of project area a fiscal year, with approval required before work starts. For an owner’s own lawn, the district requires HOA approval before an HOA member applies. Irrigation accounts have had budget-based rates since 2016.

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

The zoning code requires landscaping to be mainly drought tolerant, with at least 60% of required landscaped area in California native species (section 17.68.040), and irrigation breaks and leaks repaired immediately (section 17.68.060).

The state water-efficient landscape review applies to rehabilitated landscapes of 2,500 square feet or more and to new landscapes, pools or water features of 500 square feet or more. A board replacing a large common-area landscape should plan for that review. In canyon areas, permanent irrigation is not allowed and invasive species are prohibited.

The city says it is in the wildland-urban interface and is on the state’s 2026 Fire Risk Reduction Community List. It links a 2025 CAL FIRE fire hazard severity zone map showing very high, high and moderate zones. Both the city and the Orange County Fire Authority say that where there is an HOA, the HOA usually maintains the fuel modification zone.

OCFA’s vegetation management guideline for new construction, C-05 (January 2026), sets a standard zone of 170 feet and these duties:

• Maintenance twice a year, in mid-to-late spring and early-to-mid fall, permanently, with the duty recorded in the CC&Rs. OCFA’s sample language lets it enforce as a third-party beneficiary.
• No combustible mulch in the first 5 feet from a structure.
• Interior common-area slopes kept to irrigated Zone B standards, and plant changes approved by OCFA.

For common areas with no fuel modification plan, OCFA’s 2026 guidance for HOA common areas covers the 100 feet around structures: groundcover under 2 feet, shrubs in groups of three or fewer spaced 15 feet apart, hedges no taller than 5 feet, tree branches 10 feet from structures and ornamental grasses sheared each spring. A biologist’s or geologist’s report is needed before work in sensitive areas.

After the Norte Fire, the city warned on October 16, 2026 of flood and debris-flow risk in burn areas during rain and offered free sandbags at San Gorgonio Park and Steed Memorial Park. OCFA’s South County inspection office is at (949) 347-2240.

The city mails weed abatement notices each April to owners of undeveloped property. Weeds must be cut to 1 inch or lower by May 15 and kept clear all year. If the owner does not act, a city contractor clears the lot between May 15 and July 1 and bills the owner plus an administrative fee, and unpaid charges become a lien on the tax roll. An association that owns undeveloped lots should expect that notice.

Code Compliance refers hillside vegetation fire hazards to OCFA.

Commercial landscapers must show their business name, phone number and city business license number on each blower. Put these rules in your landscape contract.

These charges appear on the property tax bill and are separate from association dues.

• CFD 2006-1, Marblehead Coastal. The city formed it in 2007 to pay for roads, parks and trails, storm drains and utilities. The tax rises 2% a year and cannot be levied after fiscal year 2060-61. For 2022-23 the residential rates ranged from $6,507.12 to $13,579.62 per parcel, depending on home size.
• CFD 90-2, Talega. A Capistrano Unified School District special tax for school facilities. See our Talega guide.
• CFD 99-1. The County of Orange lists a second city district under this number. We could not confirm which area it covers.

About 15% of the city is in the coastal zone. The Coastal Commission certified the city’s Land Use Plan in 2018, but its Implementation Plan was not yet certified when we checked, so many coastal permits still go through the Coastal Commission. Ask Planning before exterior work on a coastal-zone property.

CR&R is the city’s trash hauler. Multifamily complexes have had to subscribe to organics collection since January 1, 2022, under an ordinance with fines. Discharges to storm drains are a code violation, and newer projects carry a water quality management plan with ongoing maintenance duties that pass to the association.