Santa Paula HOA Guide: Local Rules for Boards and Owners

The city’s Community Development FAQ says Santa Paula does not currently allow short-term rentals such as Airbnb stays. It also says the city has no plans to adopt a short-term rental ordinance or program, because demand has not been high enough, and that this may change.

The FAQ does not define a short-term rental or mention HOAs, and the municipal code would not open for us, so we could not check the exact wording. Your CC&Rs may have their own leasing rules, so read your governing documents. Questions go to Planning at (805) 933-4214.

The East Area One Specific Plan was approved in 2008 and amended in 2015. In a January 29, 2024 joint session, the city reviewed a request from the builder to raise the plan’s housing cap from 1,500 to 2,050 homes. The presentation described the project this way:

• Phase I (Haun Creek and Hallock): substantially complete, with 586 homes built and sold. Another 121 homes on the elementary school site were set to begin selling in spring 2024.
• Phase II (Foothill): 554 homes planned.
• Phase III (Santa Paula): 489 homes planned, with land development starting in 2026.
• Hallock Center: 300 multi-family rental homes.
• Parks already built: the Farm House and Recreation Center, Harvest Entry Park, Haun Creek Neighborhood Park, McKevett Park and five paseos.
• Parks planned: a public sports park, the Foothill Neighborhood Park, 138 acres of open space and agricultural preserve, the Santa Paula Neighborhood Park and RV storage.

The city’s project page still lists the amended development agreement as pending, so we could not confirm whether the higher cap was approved. The 2017 version of the specific plan says most of the area is in a low-range fire hazard zone, while the northernmost part is a high fire hazard area to be kept as irrigated avocado fields.

The city documents we read do not name the community’s association or say who maintains the parks, paseos and open space. Read your CC&Rs to see what your association owns and maintains, especially if your phase is still being built.

The City of Santa Paula’s Water Division supplies water in town. Its draft 2025 Urban Water Management Plan says groundwater from the Santa Paula Groundwater Basin is the city’s only drinking water source, pumped from five city wells, and that the city does not import water. The city counts about 8,500 metered connections.

AB 1572, the 2023 state law on nonfunctional turf, bars using drinking water on purely decorative grass in HOA common areas starting January 1, 2029. The State Water Board says individual homes are not covered, functional turf used for recreation is not covered and trees can still be watered. Associations with more than 5,000 square feet of irrigated common area must self-certify compliance by June 30, 2031.

The city’s rebates page lists only a few residential links to gas company programs, and we found no turf rebate, watering days or watering hours on the city’s water pages. Ask the Water Division at (805) 933-4282 about the current rules and any help for a common-area conversion before you plan one.

The city says Santa Paula is served only by the Ventura County Fire Department. Two stations handle suppression, rescue, fire prevention and disaster response:

• Station 26, 536 W. Main Street, (805) 371-1111 ext. 26.
• Station 29, 114 S. 10th Street, (805) 371-1111 ext. 29. Since March 22, 2024, its crews have worked from a temporary site on East Main Street until a new station is finished.

The city’s Building and Safety FAQ lists the Fire Department among the departments whose approval is needed before a building permit is issued.

The fire department’s Fire Hazard Reduction Program mails a yearly “Notice to Abate Fire Hazard” to owners of parcels in the program. The department says:

• Dates. Notices are mailed April 20, and the work is due June 1. Long-term extensions are not granted. If work has started and you need a few more days, call the fire station number on the notice.
• Distances. The usual requirement is 100 feet of vegetation clearance around structures and 10 feet along road access. Ornamental landscaping counts too, so keep it irrigated and free of dead material.
• HOA areas. Parcels with a fuel modification zone, such as open space or HOA landscape areas, are among those in the program. Each owner clears only within their own property lines, even when the building that sets the 100 feet is next door.
• Inspections. Local stations usually start in the last week of May, and approvals are posted online each morning. Keep property clear all year, since regrowth can bring a second notice.
• If it is not done. There is no charge when the work is finished on time. If it is not, the department’s contractor may do it, and the cost plus an administrative fee becomes a special assessment lien on the property.
• New construction. Since March 1, 2025, new buildings and additions need a full five-foot noncombustible “Zone 0.”

If your association does the clearing, the notice still goes to each owner, because state law requires the department to mail it to the property owner. The department says that if the HOA finishes the work by the deadline, the owner does not need to do anything more. A short note to owners before April 20 can head off confused calls.

To check whether a parcel is in a mapped fire hazard severity zone, use the 2025 state and local map viewer linked from the department’s program page. Five Fire Safe Councils in the county offer free home wildfire and hardening assessments in wildfire-prone areas, and the department is starting Firewise USA communities. Questions go to the program at (805) 389-9759 or fhrp@venturacounty.gov.

The Public Works Streets Division maintains the city’s 55 miles of streets, sidewalks, trees and landscaped medians. It also handles storm damage, downed trees and hazard removal in the city right of way. Report potholes and sidewalk damage at (805) 933-4212 ext. 308. After hours, from 4:30 p.m. to 7 a.m., call (805) 312-1423.

To contest a city parking ticket, pick up an appeal form at the City Hall cashier or the Police Department front desk and attach a copy of the ticket. The police chief reviews appeals and answers in writing.

Because the municipal code would not open for us, we could not confirm the city’s rules on RVs and oversized vehicles, a 72-hour limit, towing from private streets, tree removal permits, noise or construction hours. Ask the Police Department at (805) 525-4474 about parking, and Planning at (805) 933-4214 before you remove a large tree.

The city’s financial statements for fiscal year 2023-24 list a Harvest CFD East Area 1 custodial fund. The city holds the money that property owners in the community facilities district pay toward the district’s debt service. Community facilities district charges, often called Mello-Roos, are billed apart from association dues.

The city pages we reviewed do not give the special tax amounts, the district’s boundaries or how long it lasts, and we found no landscape or lighting district on the city pages we reviewed. Owners should check the property tax bill and the disclosures they received when they bought. Questions about the district can go to Finance at (805) 933-4211.