BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 786|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 786
Author: Levine (D)
Amended: 8/31/15 in Senate
Vote: 27 - Urgency
SENATE TRANS. & HOUSING COMMITTEE: 9-0, 8/25/15
AYES: Beall, Cannella, Allen, Bates, Galgiani, Leyva, McGuire,
Mendoza, Roth
NO VOTE RECORDED: Gaines, Wieckowski
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 60-17, 6/2/15 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: Common interest developments: property use and
maintenance
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill permits a homeowners association (HOA) to
impose a fine or assessment on an owner of a separate interest
in an HOA if the property subject to the fine or assessment has
previously received, and continues to receive, recycled water
for landscaping irrigation.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Requires local agencies to adopt water-efficient landscape
ordinances, as specified.
2)Establishes rules and regulations governing the operation of
common interest developments (CIDs) and the respective rights
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Page 2
and duties of HOAs and their members.
3)Permits the governing board of an HOA to adopt operating rules
that apply generally to the management and operation of the
CID or the conduct of the business and affairs of the HOA,
provided that the rule is within the authority of the board to
make, does not conflict with the HOA's articles, bylaws, or
governing law, and is reasonable.
4)Limits the authority of an HOA or the governing documents of a
CID to regulate the use of a member's separate interest.
5)Renders void and unenforceable any provision of the governing
documents or architectural or landscaping guidelines or
policies of an HOA that does any of the following:
a) Prohibits, or includes conditions that have the effect
of prohibiting, the use of low-water-using plants as a
group or as a replacement of existing turf; or
b) Has the effect of prohibiting or restricting compliance
with a water-efficient landscape ordinance or regulation or
restriction on the use of water.
1)Provides that an HOA may apply landscaping rules established
in its governing documents that do not conflict with other
law, as specified.
2)Prohibits an HOA from imposing a fine or assessment against an
owner of a separate interest for reducing or eliminating the
watering of vegetation or lawns during any period for which
the Governor has declared a state of emergency due to drought
or a local government has declared a local emergency due to
drought.
This bill:
1)Permits a HOA to impose a fine or assessment on an owner of a
separate interest in an HOA if the property subject to the
fine or assessment has previously received, and continues to
receive, recycled water for landscaping irrigation.
2)Voids, or makes unenforceable, any provision of a CID
governing document or architectural or landscaping guidelines
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or policies that prohibit the use of artificial turf or any
other synthetic surface that resembles grass.
3)Prohibits a CID from requiring a homeowner to reverse or
remove water-efficient landscaping measures upon the
conclusion of a state of emergency due to drought that were
installed during that state of emergency.
Comments
Purpose. According to the author, the chronic drought has
continued and California is now in its fourth year. On April 1,
2015, the Governor followed up on a proclamation of a drought
state of emergency with Executive Order B-29-15. Among the
provisions of the Executive Order was directive No. 2, stating
that the State Water Resources Control Board shall impose
restriction upon water suppliers to achieve a statewide 25%
reduction in potable urban water usage through February 28,
2016. Restrictions in the amount of potable water used for
outdoor landscaping are the primary tool.
Despite these directives, the author asserts that some HOAs are
interpreting language in existing law to allow them to fine
homeowners for restricting the watering of outdoor landscaping.
Those HOAs are stating that if they (the HOA) use recycled water
on some part of the common areas, the HOA may fine homeowners
who refuse to use potable water upon their outdoor landscaping
and thus let the lawn turn brown. The author believes that
homeowners who voluntarily seek to aid the emergency drought
situation should not be penalized by HOAs using the recycled
water loophole in an attempt to maintain lush lawns during a
drought.
Artificial turf provisions. This bill also contains the same
provisions contained within AB 349 (Gonzalez), which was heard
in the Senate Transportation and Housing Committee on June 24,
2015. This language was included to avoid chaptering issues if
both this bill and AB 349 were signed by the Governor.
Therefore, this bill prohibits an HOA from preventing a
homeowner from installing artificial turf or synthetic grass.
Existing law allows an HOA to apply landscaping rules that are
included in the governing documents, so long as those rules do
not prohibit or have the effect of prohibiting the use of
low-water-using plants or prevent a homeowner from complying
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with a local water-efficient landscaping ordinance. This bill
extends those protections to artificial turf or grass. This
means an HOA may establish reasonable restrictions about the
type of artificial grass that a homeowner may use so long as
those restrictions do not, in effect, prevent a homeowner from
installing artificial grass.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:NoLocal: No
SUPPORT: (Verified8/28/15)
California Forward Action Fund
California Municipal Utilities Association
Eastern Municipal Water District
Irvine Ranch Water District
San Diego County Water Authority
Santa Margarita Water District
Western Municipal Water District
OPPOSITION: (Verified8/28/15)
Community Associations Institute
Educational Community for Homeowners
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: According to the Irvine Ranch Water
District, this district is an example of a water agency
struggling to meet the drought emergency by limiting outdoor
landscaping. A homeowner in an HOA that receives water from
that district informed the district that he would be fined by
the HOA if he were to let his lawn go brown. That HOA
interpreted existing law as allowing them to fine homeowners for
non-watering if the HOA is using recycled water in common areas.
This bill will restrict the ability for HOAs to impose a fine
on a homeowner only in circumstances in which recycled water is
used by both the HOA and the homeowner in common areas and in
homes.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION:The Educational Community for Homeowners
(ECHO) does not oppose the prohibition against an HOA imposing a
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fine or assessment against an owner of a home for reducing or
eliminating the watering of vegetation or lawns during a
drought, except where the HOA uses recycled water for all home
or common area landscape irrigation.
ECHO opposes the provisions that were contained with AB 349
(Gonzalez) that are incorporated into this bill, however,
because decisions made regarding landscaping in CIDs is, and
should continue to be, made by the community and their elected
board of directors. ECHO therefore resists attempts by the
state to legislate a "one-size-fits-all" approach to CID
governance. Both ECHO and Community Associations Institute also
raise environmental and public health concerns related to the
installation of artificial turf, including the possible unknown
health impacts that could be caused by synthetic turf.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 60-17, 6/2/15
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Baker, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brough,
Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chiu, Chu, Cooley,
Cooper, Dababneh, Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Cristina
Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez,
Gordon, Gray, Hadley, Harper, Roger Hernández, Holden, Irwin,
Jones-Sawyer, Lackey, Levine, Lopez, Low, McCarty, Medina,
Mullin, Nazarian, O'Donnell, Olsen, Perea, Quirk, Rendon,
Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Mark Stone,
Thurmond, Ting, Weber, Wilk, Williams, Wood, Atkins
NOES: Travis Allen, Bigelow, Dahle, Beth Gaines, Gallagher,
Grove, Jones, Kim, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, Melendez,
Obernolte, Patterson, Steinorth, Wagner, Waldron
NO VOTE RECORDED: Chang, Chávez, Linder
Prepared by:Alison Dinmore / T. & H. / (916) 651-4121
8/31/15 16:30:41
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