Vacaville HOA Guide: Local Rules for Boards and Owners

The city formed its public-safety districts, numbers 1 and 8 through 12, to pay for fire and law enforcement service in new development. The 2022-23 single-family rates were $185 in district 1, $454.80 in North Village, $1,246.16 in Portofino, $2,232.54 in Cheyenne, $2,152.48 in Southtown and $1,354.66 in the in-fill district. The city’s fact sheets for districts 1 and 9 say their rates rise each year with the San Francisco cost-of-living index.

Some tracts are also in a landscape and lighting maintenance district. Before the association budgets for parkway or open-space landscaping, ask the city which areas a district maintains and compare that with your recorded maps. The city’s district consultant, NBS, answers tax questions at (800) 676-7516.

We found no designation of private roads for Vehicle Code enforcement in Vacaville’s traffic title, so parking and speeding on association-owned streets are generally the association’s to manage. Ask the police department before relying on city enforcement.

Paving in a street-facing setback is capped at half of the required setback area (section 14.09.060.040). A dismantled or wrecked vehicle may not stay in a front yard more than 10 days. Your association’s rules can be stricter.

Trees with a trunk 6 inches or more in diameter at breast height, on public or private property, may not be removed without a permit (section 14.09.250.060). Permits on private property come from Community Development at (707) 449-5140. Removed trees must be replaced at ratios set by size, from 1:1 for small non-native trees up to 8:1 for native trees over 36 inches, with five years of monitoring. Routine pruning that doesn’t threaten the tree is exempt, and each day of a violation is a separate misdemeanor.

For an association with mature common-area trees, that means removals go through the city first, and replacement planting belongs in the landscape budget.

The city’s transient occupancy tax is 8% of rent for stays of 30 consecutive days or less (section 3.16.020), and the zoning code treats lodging for 30 days or less as a commercial use. We found no short-term rental permit in the code. ADUs and junior ADUs may not be rented for less than 31 days. Ask Planning at (707) 449-5140 before relying on a city rule. 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.

Chapter 13.20 lets the City Council declare drought or emergency conditions, and watering days and hours then follow the city’s water shortage plan. Runoff, hosing down hard surfaces and unrepaired leaks count as water waste under those conditions. Utilities: (707) 469-6400.

The Solano County Water Agency’s landscape rebate pays $1.50 per square foot of lawn converted, up to $1,500 for a single-family account and $7,500 for a commercial, industrial or institutional account. Projects need at least 300 square feet of lawn, written approval before work starts and completion within 120 days, and artificial turf and overhead spray are not allowed in the rebated area. The terms do not mention HOA or common-area accounts, so call the agency at (707) 455-1113 before planning around the rebate.

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 can use a rebate, where one is offered, to pay for part of a conversion it will have to make anyway.

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

Trash containers may be in the front yard only for weekly collection, and must otherwise be kept in the side or rear yard (section 8.10.060). Front-yard accumulations, overgrown or diseased vegetation and vegetation that hangs over sidewalks and streets are also public nuisances.

The city mails a notice to abate, with 10 days to ask for a hearing. Infraction fines run up to $100, $200 and then $500 within 12 months, and unpaid costs can go on the tax roll. Weeds and rubbish are enforced by the fire chief under chapter 8.04.

Within 500 feet of an occupied home, construction, repair and grading may not run from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. Monday through Saturday, or at all on Sundays and holidays (section 8.10.060). Commercial equipment, including leaf blowers and mowers, follows the same hours. Homeowners may do their own work at home on Sundays and holidays from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Put these hours in your landscape and construction contracts.