Santa Clarita HOA Guide: Local Rules for Boards and Owners

On private property, the code bars parking without the owner’s or occupant’s consent, and it covers parking in front of a driveway on a private street open to the public. The code also covers blocking a fire hydrant on a private road and exclusive-use spaces with legible signs. The city’s parking FAQ describes public-street enforcement only. Citations can be appealed within 21 days of issue. Report 72-hour and oversized vehicles to the Parking Enforcement hotline at (661) 286-4166.

Santa Clarita’s Oak Tree Preservation chapter protects any oak of the genus Quercus, whatever its size. Scrub oak is excluded on single-family lots. A permit is required to cut, prune, remove, relocate, damage or encroach into the protected zone of an oak on public or private property, so common-area oaks are covered. The protected zone starts 5 feet outside the dripline and is never less than 15 feet from the trunk.

The code lists exemptions, including:

• emergency hazard removal, with written notice afterward
• utility clearance pruning
• deadwood and live limbs up to 6 inches in circumference
• routine maintenance
• small trees: 6 inches or less in circumference, or 12.5 inches on single-family lots

Heritage oaks are 108 inches or more in circumference, or have multiple trunks of 72 inches or more each. An application needs an oak tree report and survey, and conditions can include replacement trees (24-inch box native oaks), fees and monitoring. The city lists qualified consulting arborists and tree-trimming contractors. It is also running an oak tree ordinance revision process, and we could not confirm what is changing. Call Urban Forestry at (661) 290-2200 before any oak work.

The Santa Clarita Valley Water Agency (SCV Water) is the supplier. Its site lists these rules as in place now, and does not state a local watering-day schedule:

• No runoff when watering with drinking water.
• No watering during or within 48 hours after measurable rain.
• No washing sidewalks or driveways with drinking water, except for safety.
• Hoses need shutoff nozzles for car washing.
• No drinking water in decorative fountains that do not recirculate.
• No drinking water for nonfunctional turf at commercial, industrial and institutional sites.

We did not read the agency’s local ordinances, so ask SCV Water about watering days. Its large-landscape rebate page lists HOAs as eligible:

A free landscape irrigation survey is also offered, scheduled at (888) 987-9473. The page states no caps or pre-approval rules, so ask SCV Water at (661) 294-0828 before you buy anything. The agency also has a page on the statewide ban on nonfunctional turf (AB 1572).

Santa Clarita is on the county fire department’s 2026 annual defensible space notice. The notice sets these requirements:

• Clear combustible plants 30 feet around structures (50 feet in extra-hazard areas).
• Thin vegetation out to 100 feet (200 feet in extra-hazard areas).
• Clear 10 feet each side of fire access roads and 3 feet around hydrants.
• Keep cured annual grass to 3 inches at most.

Inspections begin April 1 in desert areas, May 1 inland and June 1 on the coast. Owners have 30 days after an Official Inspection Report to comply. The notice lists a $500 fine for noncompliance, a $151 inspection fee on the 2027 tax bill and a $1,647 enforcement assessment. The county says the 5-foot Zone Zero rules under AB 3074 are not final, so check with the Defensible Space Unit at (626) 969-2375 before you plan around them. The city’s code also treats overgrown or dead vegetation as a violation.

Under the 1972 Landscape and Lighting Act, the city administers 62 financially independent landscape maintenance districts (LMDs). About 50,000 property owners pay a special assessment, and the city maintains medians, parkways, paseos and about 65,000 trees. Money from a zone can only be spent in that zone. The assessment is not part of HOA dues. To see which zone covers a property, use the city’s LMD zone list or call the LMD hotline at (661) 286-4050.

The city also lists three community facilities districts: Valencia Town Center CFD 2002-1, Vista Canyon CFD 2016-1 and Cooper Street Parking Structure CFD 2020-1. The first two are bonded.

Owners often confuse these charges with dues. A board answering questions about the tax bill should point owners to the city’s district pages rather than estimating the charge.

For construction that needs a building permit within 300 feet of residential zoning, the code allows work from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday. It is not allowed on New Year’s Day, July 4, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Memorial Day or Labor Day. The city’s FAQ also excludes Sundays and city holidays. An after-hours permit is possible with noise containment. For general noise, the code defines day as 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. and night as 9 p.m. to 7 a.m.

We found no rule specific to leaf blowers or landscape equipment in the noise chapter. Put work hours in every vendor contract. Questions go to Building and Safety at (661) 255-4935.

We searched the city’s website and both online copies of the municipal code and found no short-term rental rule. That does not mean there is none. Ask Planning at (661) 255-4330, and check your CC&Rs, because an association can set its own rental rules. We also could not confirm:

• how the city handles parking on association-owned streets
• local watering days and hours from SCV Water
• whether the city has adopted a local fire hazard severity zone map
• rebate caps and pre-approval rules for HOAs