Tustin HOA Guide: Local Rules for Boards and Owners

The city’s Code Enforcement FAQ says short-term rentals are prohibited in Tustin. A residential rental must be for 30 calendar days or more. A shorter stay is treated as a hotel or motel use, which is not allowed in residential districts. The FAQ does not cite a code section, so ask Code Enforcement at (714) 573-3298 if you need one for a violation notice.

Your association can also prohibit short rentals in its own documents. California Civil Code section 4741 does not stop an association from prohibiting rentals of 30 days or less. Owners can report a suspected short-term rental to Code Enforcement.

Homes in Tustin Legacy can sit in a city community facilities district (CFD), better known as Mello-Roos. The special tax appears on the property tax bill and is separate from association dues. The city names these Tustin Legacy districts:

The bonds paid for infrastructure in Columbus Square, Columbus Grove and Greenwood. Refinancing them at lower interest rates did not remove the tax. It lowers the amount owed each year. As of April 30, 2025, the city estimated the refinancing would cut a property owner’s annual tax bill by $93 to $530, and said the final savings depended on bond market conditions when the deal closed. The new special tax amounts were to go to the County of Orange in August 2025 for the 2025-26 tax roll.

For a specific parcel’s tax, send owners to the city’s Finance Department at (714) 573-3060 rather than estimating it yourself.

The Tustin Landscape and Lighting District (TLLD) covers Tustin Ranch. It was formed in 1985 and includes 5,704 parcels. It is a city assessment, separate from your association dues, and it pays for work in public rights-of-way and dedicated easements:

Assessments are charged per equivalent dwelling unit (EDU) by zone. The city lists these rates for fiscal year 2025-26:

The city says assessments barely changed from 1997 to 2025 while water, electricity and maintenance costs rose, so costs now exceed revenue. Since 2021 it has moved landscape maintenance from every 4 weeks to every 8, suspended plant and tree replacement, stretched tree trimming from every 2 years to every 3 and limited irrigation, which leaves plants stressed in late spring and early summer. An earlier owner vote did not produce enough votes to raise assessments.

In October 2025 the City Council adopted Resolution No. 2025-59 to propose a Tustin Landscape and Lighting Reassessment District 2025, with rates rising each year from FY 2026-27 through FY 2030-31. Ballots went to owners, and the votes were to be counted at a public hearing on December 2, 2025. When we checked on October 26, 2026, the city’s district page had not posted a result. Ask the district at (714) 573-3030 which rates now apply.

For a Tustin Ranch board, the practical question is where your common area ends and the district’s parkways and slopes begin. As general good practice, keep a map of that line, and report a district problem, such as a dead plant or an out streetlight, to TLLD rather than having your landscaper fix it on the association’s dime.

Applications are online only. Permit holders must sign the city’s Good Neighbor Policy, which asks residents to use garages and driveways for parking rather than storage, park only on the paved public right-of-way and not treat any street space as reserved. The City Council adopted a Residential Parking Action Plan on November 15, 2022, with 14 recommendations. The plan notes that permit parking had mostly been limited to single-family streets and Old Town. The program is run by Engineering at (714) 573-3150.

We did not find a city rule on RVs or oversized vehicles on public streets, so ask Tustin Police before you tell owners what is allowed. On association streets and lots, your own parking rules and state towing law do the work.

The city says its residents are served by either Tustin Water Services or the Irvine Ranch Water District (IRWD), depending on where they live. Check the water bill for each common-area meter, because the rules and rebates differ.

City of Tustin water customers follow the permanent restrictions in Ordinance 1516, which the city enforces through administrative citations:

The ordinance allows a turf exemption with a water management plan (section 4953A). New and rehabilitated landscapes must also meet the city’s Water Efficient Landscape Ordinance (Ordinance 1465).

Rebates depend on the supplier. City of Tustin customers use the Municipal Water District of Orange County (MWDOC) commercial rebates, which list turf replacement at $2 per square foot plus $100 per tree for up to five trees, smart controllers at $35 per station and rotating nozzles at $2 each, subject to funding. MWDOC’s spray-to-drip rebate is open only to IRWD and Moulton Niguel customers. IRWD-served properties use IRWD’s commercial rebates: turf removal at $3 per square foot on drinking-water sites or $2 on recycled-water sites, spray-to-drip at $0.25 per square foot and controllers at up to $50 per station. Artificial turf does not qualify for MWDOC’s turf rebate, and IRWD requires approval before you buy anything. Ask MWDOC at (714) 593-5036 whether your association’s site qualifies.

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, as the city’s own page notes.

CAL FIRE released its 2025 fire hazard severity zone map for local responsibility areas on March 24, 2025. The city says it shows portions of Tustin in very high, high and moderate zones, but it does not name the neighborhoods. Look up each common-area address on the city’s map, and call the Building Division at (714) 573-3130 with questions.

The Orange County Fire Authority (OCFA) serves Tustin from Stations 21, 37 and 43. If your association maintains fuel modification areas, its duties are set by the fuel modification plan approved for your community, so find that plan before you change a slope contract. A seller of a home in a high or very high zone needs a defensible space disclosure inspection (Civil Code section 1102.19), and OCFA offers free home assessments at (714) 573-6774.

These hours come from the city’s Code Enforcement FAQ, which cites no code section and does not mention leaf blowers. Noise complaints go to Code Enforcement at (714) 573-3298. Write the city’s hours into your landscape contract so the crew’s schedule matches.

The city’s SB 9 FAQ says the state law does not override an HOA’s CC&Rs, so an association can still allow or prohibit SB 9 projects. Tustin’s accessory dwelling unit rules are in Ordinance No. 1517 (December 2021), Tustin City Code section 9279. ADU and zoning questions go to Planning at (714) 573-3140.

Code Enforcement handles noise, property maintenance, water quality, zoning, signs and unpermitted construction, at (714) 573-3298. It also offers a Trespassing/Disturbing the Peace Letter of Authorization form for private property owners. Ask whether your association can file one for its common areas.

CR&R is the city’s trash hauler, at (714) 372-8272. Report illegal dumping into storm drains at (714) 573-3134, or after hours at 1-877-89-SPILL.