California · Davis-Stirling Act

One pet, a vegetable bed and a washing line.

Three small sections, each voiding a familiar kind of covenant, and each leaving the association its "reasonable restrictions". Two of the three define that phrase; the one that does not is the one about pets, and the difference matters.

At least one pet

§ 4715(a): no governing documents shall prohibit an owner from keeping at least one pet within the development, subject to the association's reasonable rules and regulations. And the section does not cut off other rights — it may not be construed to affect any other right in law to keep an animal, which is where a service or assistance animal sits.

§ 4715(b) defines a pet as any domesticated bird, cat, dog, or aquatic animal kept in an aquarium — or any other animal as agreed between the association and the homeowner. The list is closed except by agreement, so a reptile or a rabbit is a pet here only if the association says so.

§ 4715(d) is worth noting for its breadth: "governing documents" here includes the CC&Rs, the bylaws, and the rules and regulations. A board cannot reach by rule what the declaration may not say.

One date to check before relying on any of this. § 4715(e) says the section became operative on 1 January 2001 and applies only to governing documents entered into, amended or otherwise modified on or after that date. An older document, untouched since, is outside it.

Growing food in your own backyard

§ 4750(b) voids any provision of a governing document that effectively prohibits or unreasonably restricts the use of a homeowner's backyard for personal agriculture — a term it borrows wholesale from Civil Code § 1940.10.

Two boundaries. § 4750(d): it applies only to yards designated for the exclusive use of the homeowner — not to the common area, and not to a shared yard. And § 4750(e) leaves the association free to require that dead plant material and weeds be cleared regularly, expressly excepting straw, mulch, compost and other organic material meant to feed the soil and hold moisture. Tidiness rules survive; a mulch bed is not untidiness.

Clotheslines and drying racks

§ 4753(c) does the same for a clothesline or drying rack in the owner's backyard, again limited by § 4753(d)(3) to backyards designated for the owner's exclusive use.

The definitions carry the sting. § 4753(a) and (b) say what counts — a cord, rope or wire, or an apparatus for hanging laundry — and then both add the same sentence: a balcony, railing, awning or other part of a structure or building shall not qualify. The protection is for the line you put up, not for draping washing over the railing.