Walnut Creek HOA Guide: Local Rules for Boards and Owners

Municipal Code Chapter 5-9 took effect on April 1, 2026. It prohibits anyone who owns, manages or rents property in the city from using a gasoline-powered leaf blower, and from hiring or allowing someone else to use one on the property. That wording reaches an association and its manager, not just the landscape crew holding the blower.

• Fines run up to $100 for a first violation, $200 for a second within a year and $500 for each one after that.
• Emergency responders and city-authorized clearing of downed trees are exempt.
• Electric blowers are allowed during the city’s landscape equipment hours: 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekends and holidays.

Under Chapter 3-8, no one may cut down or remove a tree in the city without a tree removal permit. A tree qualifies if a single trunk measures 28 inches or more around (about 9 inches across), or multiple trunks total 40 inches or more, measured four and a half feet above the ground. The chapter does not exempt single-family lots or association common area.

Ten native species are “highly protected”: valley oak, blue oak, coast live oak, California black oak, canyon live oak, interior live oak, madrone, California buckeye, California black walnut and grey pine. These must be pruned by a certified arborist or certified tree worker.

• Apply at least 10 days ahead for removals that are not part of a development project. The city’s form asks for notice to owners within 300 feet.
• The city’s form says dead trees need a permit too. For a hazardous tree, emergency removal is by written permission.
• Civil penalties run up to $200 per inch of circumference for a highly protected tree and up to $100 per inch for others, and a violation can also be charged as an infraction or misdemeanor.

Tree permits are handled by Engineering at (925) 943-5839.

We found no short-term rental permit system, cap or primary-residence rule in the Walnut Creek Municipal Code. The closest provisions are the zoning rules for bed and breakfast inns, which need a conditional use permit in residential zones, and the 8.5% transient occupancy tax in Chapter 8-3, which applies to stays of 30 days or less.

One rule is clear. An ADU or junior ADU may not be rented for less than 31 days. For a whole-home or room rental, ask the city’s duty planner at (925) 256-3558 how the city treats it before the board relies on a city rule.

That leaves the association’s own documents as the main control. 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.

On most lots the size limit is 850 square feet for a studio or one-bedroom unit and 1,000 square feet for a larger one, with slightly higher limits on lots of 15,000 square feet or more. Junior ADUs are capped at 500 square feet. Detached units are generally limited to 16 feet in height with setbacks of no more than 4 feet from side and rear lot lines, and no parking is required.

Existing multi-family lots can add detached ADUs up to the number of existing units or eight, whichever is less. That provision can apply to a condominium property, so expect questions.

For boards, the state rule matters more than the city one. Civil Code section 4751 voids CC&R provisions that prohibit or unreasonably restrict an ADU or junior ADU on a lot zoned for single-family use. An association can still apply reasonable restrictions through its architectural review process.

These rules are written for public streets. If your association owns its streets, parking is governed mainly by your own rules and by state towing law. The code also has an article on parking on private property (sections 4-6.301 to 4-6.310), so confirm with Walnut Creek Police what the city will and will not enforce inside your community.

Neighborhoods with heavy commuter parking can petition for a residential permit parking area under Chapter 3-5, Article 22. It takes signatures from at least 67% of dwelling units.

Start by checking which utility serves the association: EBMUD or Contra Costa Water District. EBMUD’s permanent rules prohibit irrigation that causes more than incidental runoff and watering during or within 48 hours after measurable rain. Fountains must recirculate.

EBMUD’s lawn conversion rebate pays $1 per square foot, or $2 per square foot for projects that meet its ecological standards and are planted between September and February. The cap in any two-year period is $15,000 for commercial and large multi-family accounts and $2,000 for single-family and small multi-family accounts. EBMUD decides which class an association’s account falls in, so ask before you plan around the larger figure. The project cannot start until EBMUD approves it in writing, and artificial turf does not qualify. The city’s rebate page lists Contra Costa Water District’s commercial lawn conversion rebate at up to $20,000. Confirm the terms with the district, since we could only check the city’s summary.

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 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. The city’s own landscape code repeats that an association’s guidelines may not prohibit low-water plants as a group.

Con Fire’s weed abatement program covers vacant lots and grassy open space. For 2025 the district’s deadline for central county, with Walnut Creek and Rossmoor both named, was June 1. Check the district’s page each spring for the current date. The district says properties must keep meeting the standard for the whole fire season, which usually runs to about late October, and it does not accept extension requests after July 4.

The city adopted the 2025 California Fire Code and the 2025 Wildland-Urban Interface Code, each with Con Fire’s amendments, effective December 19, 2025. Con Fire says its updated fire hazard severity zone maps took effect July 10, 2025. Look up each common-area parcel on the map, and ask the district what applies in that zone.

The state Board of Forestry approved “Zone 0” rules for the first five feet around buildings in August 2026. We could not confirm an effective date when we checked, so ask Con Fire where the rule stands before you budget for it.

If your community borders city open space, the city manages that land with grazing and fuel breaks along the property line. Its guidance for neighbors is to clear everything flammable within 5 feet of a building, thin and maintain out to 30 feet and reduce fuels out to 100 feet or the property line.

Under section 4-6.203, permitted construction, demolition, repair and grading are limited to non-holiday weekdays from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. unless a permit sets other hours. Landscape and maintenance equipment, including mowers, trimmers and chainsaws, may run from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekends and holidays. Put those hours in your landscape and construction contracts. Your own rules can set shorter hours.

Chapter 7-2 gives the owner of a parcel fronting a sidewalk the duty to repair and maintain it, including the parking strip and curb, and makes the owner liable for injuries caused by neglect. Where the association owns the frontage, that owner is the association.

The code also has an article on maintaining private streets (sections 4-6.501 to 4-6.503) that lets the city order repairs and put the cost on the tax bill. It appears to be written for particular developments, so ask Code Enforcement whether it covers yours.

Contra Costa County’s guidance on private creeks is direct: if a creek is on your property, it is your responsibility to maintain it, usually to the centerline. State and federal permits can apply before anyone alters a bank or channel.