Civil Code Property, Pets & Rentals
Personal Agriculture
Chapter 5 · Property Use and Maintenance · Protected Uses
Text current as of 2026-07-07 · Last amended by AB 2561, eff. 2015-01-01
The code says CIV §4750
(a) For the purposes of this section, “personal agriculture” has the same definition as in Section 1940.10.
(b) Any provision of a governing document, as defined in Section 4150, shall be void and unenforceable if it effectively prohibits or unreasonably restricts the use of a homeowner’s backyard for personal agriculture.
(c) (1) This section does not apply to provisions that impose reasonable restrictions on the use of a homeowner’s yard for personal agriculture.
(2) For purposes of this section, “reasonable restrictions” are restrictions that do not significantly increase the cost of engaging in personal agriculture or significantly decrease its efficiency.
(d) This section applies only to yards that are designated for the exclusive use of the homeowner.
(e) This section shall not prohibit a homeowners’ association from applying rules and regulations requiring that dead plant material and weeds, with the exception of straw, mulch, compost, and other organic materials intended to encourage vegetation and retention of moisture in the soil, are regularly cleared from the backyard.
(Added by Stats. 2014, Ch. 584, Sec. 3. (AB 2561) Effective January 1, 2015.)
How courts have read this
Editorial summaries — not the court’s words.