Davis, CA

Davis has no breed-specific ban. Instead, Section 5.02.010 adopts the entire vicious-animal article of the Yolo County Code by reference, enforcing it inside city limits regardless of…

Davis bans cattle, horses, swine, sheep, goats and most poultry outright, but residents may keep up to six chicken hens, pigeons or rabbits (in combination) in a clean pen at least…

Davis defines a dog as 'at large' when it is off its owner's property and not under leash restraint. Exceptions exist for designated exercise areas, animal shows and city-issued…

Davis bans hunting, harming, killing, or harassing wildlife, including birds, in the city's open space areas. The rule sits alongside separate bans on hunting and firearms in those…

Davis requires an animal hospital or veterinary hospital to sit at least one hundred feet from any residential district, restaurant, hotel or motel under Section 40.26.040 of the…

Yolo County exempts domestic cats from its leash and at-large law under § 6-1.401, so a free-roaming cat is not itself a code violation. Owners remain on the hook, though: § 6-1.420…

In Yolo County's agricultural zones, keeping or sheltering a wild animal is not a use you can start on your own. Table 8-2.304(c) of the Zoning Code requires a Minor Use Permit from…

Keeping bees in unincorporated Yolo County is a by-right use in every zone, but Sec. 8-2.506(k) tightens the rules once a hive sits in the R-L, R-M, or R-H residential districts: no…

Yolo County Title 6 does not set a numeric household limit on dogs or cats, but anyone operating a kennel must obtain an annual kennel license under § 6-1.701, and the kennel use…

Yolo County classifies pet grooming as a "Service Use" under Sec. 8-2.603(c), and Table 8-2.604 allows it by right, subject only to zoning clearance, in the Local Commercial, General…

California law makes it illegal to knowingly feed big game mammals, deer, elk, pronghorn antelope, black bear, and Nelson bighorn sheep, anywhere in the state. The California…

Davis bans commercial trucks off approved truck routes from parking anywhere except a short list of signed streets, and bars commercial vehicles from parking more than eighteen inches…

Davis prohibits stopping, standing or parking between 2:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. on a defined list of streets once the city posts signs, including Columbia Place, Oxford Circle, part of…

Davis caps loading zones at half of any block's curb length, limits commercial material loading to thirty minutes and passenger loading to three minutes, and restricts yellow zones to…

Davis bans stopping, standing or parking within twenty feet of a crosswalk in the central traffic district or a business district, within twenty feet of a safety zone or a traffic…

Davis assigns a fixed meaning to each curb color: red bars all stopping, yellow allows loading only on weekdays, white is a three-minute passenger or mail zone, and green caps standing…

Davis Municipal Code Section 40.26.312 bars using a camper, trailer, or motorhome parked on a public street or private property as a living or sleeping space for more than seven…

An abandoned, wrecked, dismantled or inoperative vehicle on private or public property in Davis is a public nuisance under Municipal Code Article 23.06. The owner of the land and the…

Davis reserves marked electric vehicle and car share parking spaces exclusively for those vehicles, caps electric vehicle charging-space use at four hours between 8:00 a.m. and 6:00…

Davis limits how much of a single-family or duplex front and side yard can be paved for parking under Section 40.25.050 of the zoning code. A property gets one driveway per street…

Davis lets the city council create preferential permit parking areas to keep commuter and nonresident vehicles off neighborhood streets, with permits issued by the police chief and…

California doesn't ban private-property towing, but Vehicle Code Section 22658 controls how it happens. A posted sign at least 17 by 22 inches must warn drivers before a tow company…

Davis makes it a public nuisance to violate the state weed and rubbish abatement laws, Government Code Sections 39501 and 39560, on any property in the city. Municipal Code Section…

Davis bars anyone but the city director from removing a city tree or a private/protected tree without a permit. Removal can only be approved on specific findings such as disease…

Davis's water-efficient landscaping ordinance, triggered on projects with 2,500 square feet or more of new or rehabilitated landscape, directs applicants to protect and preserve native…

Davis bars daytime landscape watering between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. except by hand-held hose or drip irrigation, and bans irrigating turf within 48 hours after a quarter inch of rain…

Davis encourages, but does not mandate, rain gardens, cisterns, and other rainwater-capture landscape features under its Water Efficient Landscaping ordinance, while separately…

Davis declares low-hanging vegetation over sidewalks and bike paths a public nuisance below eight feet, and over traffic lanes below fourteen feet, along with any private tree…

Yolo County lets single-family homeowners skip mandatory organics pickup by proving they compost yard trimmings and food waste onsite. Section 6-17.301(c)(5) grants a one-year…

Since SB 676 took effect in 2024, Government Code 53087.7 protects only drought-tolerant living landscaping from local bans, so cities may again prohibit artificial turf. Civil Code…

Davis permits construction and landscape equipment noise only between 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. on weekdays and 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. on weekends under Municipal Code Section…

Davis bars anyone in a residentially zoned or residentially planned area from repairing, rebuilding, or testing a motor vehicle loud enough to exceed the residential noise ceiling in…

Davis requires anyone using a loudspeaker, sound truck or other amplifying equipment on streets, parks or at events over one hundred people to register with the police chief first, and…

Davis sets a decibel-and-duration test for animal noise under Municipal Code Section 24.02.010. A dog's sustained barking that exceeds the noise limit for more than three minutes out…

Aircraft noise around Yolo County Airport (KDWA, Davis-Woodland-Winters), University Airport (KEDU), and the Watts-Woodland strip is regulated under California Code of Regulations…

Cannabis operations in unincorporated Yolo County face fixed decibel ceilings: 80 dBA at the property line by day, 65 dBA at night, and never more than 60 dBA CNEL at any nearby…

Yolo County does not set a single residential quiet-hours window in its County Code. Instead, the Zoning Code (Title 8) enforces decibel-based noise limits at the property line, with a…

Any Davis home getting a new pool, spa, or pool remodel must isolate it with an enclosure and add at least two more drowning-prevention features under Section 8.01.040(g)'s local…

Yolo County has no separate swimming-pool permit process: a residential pool falls under the 2019 California Residential Code, which the county adopted by reference including Appendix…

Within Downtown Davis zoning districts, the combined height of a screen and the retaining wall it sits on or is attached to cannot exceed six feet under Davis Municipal Code §…

Davis caps fences, walls and hedges at seven feet behind the required front yard setback, four feet if placed forward of it, and imposes a triangular sight clearance on corner lots to…

In Downtown Davis zoning districts, permanent barbed wire, razor wire and chain link screening are banned outright under Davis Municipal Code § 40.14.030(h). Chain link is allowed only…

California Civil Code Section 841, the Good Neighbor Fence Act, presumes adjoining landowners share equal benefit and equal cost responsibility for boundary fences, applying statewide…

Davis Municipal Code Section 40.26.450 implements state ADU law (Gov. Code Section 65852.2) with local development standards: detached ADUs generally cap at 850 square feet (1,000 for…

Davis Municipal Code Section 40.26.450(h)(3) waives impact fees entirely for ADUs under 750 square feet, matching state law, and charges larger ADUs a fee proportional to the ADU's…

Davis caps a freestanding backyard shed at one hundred twenty square feet and eight and a half feet of height under Section 40.26.010(d)(6) of the zoning code, and requires sheds to…

Davis has no standalone tiny house ordinance. It instead incorporates Appendix BB of the 2025 California Residential Code and the matching Appendix R of the Plumbing Code by reference…

Davis requires a recorded covenant before issuing a certificate of occupancy for any ADU or JADU, and Municipal Code Section 40.26.450(g) bars renting either unit for less than thirty…

Yolo County allows garage conversion to an ADU or JADU as a ministerial, permitted use; no replacement parking is required, no setback is imposed on the converted footprint, and a JADU…

A Davis home business cannot generate pedestrian or vehicle traffic or parking demand beyond what is normal for the residential district under Section 40.26.150(a)(4), and subsection…

Davis allows a home-based business as a permitted 'home occupation' use in residential districts under Section 40.26.150, but caps it at twenty-five percent of one floor's area and…

Under Municipal Code Section 40.26.270, Davis treats a small family day care home as a residential use that needs no conditional use permit, matching state law's protection for in-home…

Davis restricts home occupation signage to a single small nameplate under Municipal Code Section 40.26.150(a)(6). No other advertising sign, banner, or display is allowed on the…

Government Code section 51035 forbids any California city, county, or city and county from prohibiting a cottage food operation in a residential dwelling. The local agency must pick…

California lets home cooks sell meals from their own kitchen under a microenterprise home kitchen operation (MEHKO) permit, capped at 30 meals a day, 90 a week, and $100,000 in annual…

Davis bans the manufacture, sale, use and discharge of fireworks of any kind within city limits, including so-called safe-and-sane fireworks. The only way pyrotechnics are legal is a…

Davis amends the California Residential Code to require every required smoke alarm to run off a second power source besides its dedicated branch circuit, banning removable batteries as…

Davis caps liquefied petroleum gas storage at 2,000 gallons aggregate capacity per installation citywide, a local amendment to the state Fire Code's LP-gas chapter that the fire code…

A permitted open campfire, fire ring or pit in Davis must sit at least 15 feet from any structure and 15 feet from brush, trees or other combustibles, burn only approved fuel, and be…

Davis requires a permit before anyone sets, ignites or maintains an open campfire on city public property, a category that covers grills, smokers and fire pits used for cooking, warmth…

Any special event facility, small or large, sited in a Fire Hazard Severity Zone in unincorporated Yolo County must submit a public safety and fire evacuation plan with its permit…

California requires property owners in fire hazard zones to maintain 100 feet of defensible space around structures, applying uniformly across State and Local Responsibility Areas.

Yolo County Code Sec. 8-2.306(m) caps farm stays at six guest rooms or 15 guests, and Sec. 8-2.306(l) and Sec. 8-1.201 cap bed and breakfast inns at ten guest rooms total (six rooms…

For bed and breakfast and farm stay special events, Yolo County Code Sec. 8-2.306(k)(4)-(5) requires a Minor Use Permit if a small project involves 'noise generating activities after…

Yolo County Code Sec. 8-2.306(l)(2)(iii) and (m)(2)(iii) require bed and breakfasts and farm stays to provide adequate on-site parking 'as set forth in Sec. 8-2.306(k)(5) and (6),'…

Unincorporated Yolo County has no general short-term rental permit. Title 8 only authorizes transient lodging as bed and breakfast inns (Sec. 8-2.306(l)) and farm stays (Sec…

California requires hosting platforms to warn hosts to check their lease and insurance before listing (Business and Professions Code 22592), and AB 537 requires short-term lodging…

Davis bars a landlord from evicting, raising rent on, or cutting services to a tenant in retaliation for exercising landlord-tenant rights, so long as the tenant is current on rent…

Davis's Municipal Code declares that substandard rental housing threatens tenant health, safety, and neighborhood stability, and creates a registration and inspection program to catch…

Davis has no general rent control ordinance; state law (Costa-Hawkins, AB 1482) governs most rentals citywide. The one local rent rule applies narrowly to buildings being converted to…

No owner may rent a residential unit in Davis until it's registered with the city under Municipal Code Article 18.11. Multifamily buildings of five or more units register under Section…

California evictions run through the unlawful detainer process. Under Code of Civil Procedure § 1161, nonpayment requires a 3-day notice to pay rent or quit (excluding weekends and…

California Civil Code § 1954 limits when a landlord may enter a rented home. Except in emergencies, abandonment, or with tenant consent, the landlord must give reasonable written…

California sets no fixed dollar or percentage cap on rent late fees, but a late fee in a residential lease is treated as liquidated damages. Under Civil Code § 1671, such a fee is…

To end a California month-to-month tenancy, a tenant gives 30 days' written notice. A landlord gives 30 days if the tenant has lived there under a year, or 60 days if a year or more…

California requires written notice before raising a month-to-month tenant's rent. Under Civ. Code § 827, increases of 10% or less in 12 months need 30 days' notice; increases above 10%…

As of July 1, 2024, California landlords may collect no more than one month's rent as a security deposit, regardless of whether the unit is furnished. The deposit, minus any lawful…

California adverse possession requires five years of continuous, open, hostile possession AND payment of all property taxes during that period under Code of Civil Procedure § 325. A…

Davis requires anyone running a fixed-location business buying or selling junk, rubbish, or used articles such as scrap metal, tires, and precious metals to hold a city business…

Davis pawnbrokers must hold a city business license and pay a flat $600 annual tax under Municipal Code Section 19.04.090(h), separate from the percentage-of-receipts formula that…

Davis Municipal Code Section 40.26.150(b)(11) flatly prohibits auto, motorcycle, boat, and trailer repair shops as home occupations. A resident cannot obtain a home occupation permit…

Davis confines sex oriented entertainment businesses to industrial and industrial research districts under Municipal Code Section 40.26.410 and imposes strict buffers: 500 feet from…

Davis regulates who may sell tobacco, vape products and paraphernalia by adopting Yolo County's tobacco retailer permit code wholesale, with city officials, not county officials…

Massage therapy is an allowed use in every unincorporated Yolo County zoning district, but the paperwork depends on staff size. A single independent contractor or sole provider…

Davis charges a 12% transient occupancy tax on rent paid by any guest staying 30 consecutive days or less in a hotel, motel, or similar lodging. Operators collect the tax at the time…

Davis awards its own one-for-one city density bonus, on top of the state density bonus, when a developer builds on-site affordable units to satisfy the city's inclusionary housing…

New buildings and additions in the Downtown and Traditional Neighborhood Overlay District must follow council-adopted design guidelines and clear site plan and architectural review…

Davis requires a police-chief-issued license before anyone may run a cardroom, caps every cardroom at five card tables and ten players per table, limits bets to twenty dollars per…

California Penal Code § 326.5 lets only tax-exempt nonprofits, mobilehome park associations, senior groups, and school-affiliated charities run bingo, and only under a local city or…

California law exempts private home card games from gambling regulation entirely. Penal Code § 337j(e)(2)(D) excludes any card game played in a private home or residence from the…

California has no legal sports betting, in stores or online. Penal Code section 337a criminalizes bookmaking, pool-selling, and placing or accepting any bet on the result of a sporting…

Davis lets residents post garage-sale signs in the public right-of-way for one day only. Signs must be 9 square feet or smaller and come down within twenty-four hours of the event, or…

In Davis's downtown zones, a window sign can cover no more than 25 percent of a shopfront window, must sit at least 5 feet above the ground, and is capped at one sign per business…

Davis bans advertising displays within 600 feet of a freeway boundary if the display is designed to be seen mainly by freeway travelers. A use permit under the zoning code can allow…

Davis protects noncommercial signs expressing the owner's or occupant's ideas, beliefs, or views on sociological, religious or economic subjects under Section 40.26.020(a)(1), and…

Davis's Outdoor Lighting Control ordinance exempts temporary holiday decoration lights from its fully-shielded fixture and light-trespass standards entirely, but the exemption sets no…

Yolo County's zoning code kills digital billboards two ways. Section 8-2.1203(b) bans animated signs, including electronic message display signs, in every zoning district countywide…

Davis bars city staff, contractors and facilities from being used to enforce federal civil immigration law. City employees cannot ask about immigration status, hold anyone for ICE, or…

Davis requires a bicyclist entering a bike lane from an alley, driveway, bicycle path or building to yield to bicycles already in the lane, and to yield to vehicles and bicycles when…

Davis requires any shared bike- or scooter-share operator to hold a city permit under Article 6.05, cap speed at 15 mph, keep devices off downtown sidewalks unless racked, and retrieve…

Davis caps electric bicycles and scooters offered through its permitted bike- and scooter-share program at 15 mph. Section 6.05.170 requires operators to equip shared devices with…

A low-speed vehicle in California may not be driven on any roadway with a speed limit above 35 miles per hour. Vehicle Code section 21260 permits it to cross a faster road only where…

Davis lets private property owners post signs banning skateboards on publicly used private property, bans skateboarding on sidewalks and streets in the central traffic district and a…

Davis requires pedestrians to cross at right angles to the curb or by the shortest route to the opposite curb unless a marked crosswalk is present, and bans crossing anywhere but a…

Davis Municipal Code § 34.02.025 separately and expressly bans smoking marijuana or marijuana products in every enclosed public place, on all city-owned property including parks…

Davis prohibits loitering within six hundred feet of any posted secondary school campus during school hours, plus a half hour before and an hour after classes or school functions. The…

Davis bars soliciting money or alms within fifteen feet of a bank, credit union or ATM entrance during business or operating hours. The rule sits inside a broader ordinance targeting…

Davis bans smoking, including e-cigarette vapor, within twenty feet of restaurant and bar patios, public event areas, building entrances, and any city park or greenbelt. Violators face…

Davis bans drinking or carrying an open container of alcohol on streets, sidewalks, bike paths, greenbelts and four named city parks, and within six hundred feet of a school during…

Davis makes it an infraction to urinate or defecate anywhere in public other than inside an enclosed restroom, bathroom or similar structure. The ordinance carves out only two…

Davis registers and inspects single-family rental units under Municipal Code Article 18.11. The city triggers inspections through random compliance audits, tenant complaints, or…

A Davis tenant who reports code violations or a health and safety risk at a single-family rental triggers a city inspection under Municipal Code Section 18.11.050(f)(2)(B). If the…

Anyone wanting exclusive use of a Davis park facility or area, for a picnic reservation, a gathering, a sale, or any activity beyond ordinary first-come first-served use, must get a…

Davis Municipal Code Article 35.04 requires a permit from the chief of police to hold any parade, march, ceremony or procession on city streets or in parks, filed 48 hours to 30 days…

Restaurants and bars in downtown Davis need a Downtown Outdoor Dining License Agreement with the city before setting tables or furniture in the public right-of-way. Use is capped to…

Davis lets downtown restaurants and property owners extend into the public right-of-way for parklets, but only within the sidewalk's designated "Enhancement Zone" and only under a…

Davis lets residents close a street for a block party or similar neighborhood gathering only with a police chief-issued street use permit, revocable at the city's discretion. The same…

Davis bans open fires in city parks and civic spaces, but carves out a specific exception for propane heaters and fire-top tables used under the Downtown Outdoor Dining Program…

Any outdoor festival in unincorporated Yolo County, defined as a musical, dance, or similar outdoor event drawing more than 1,000 people, needs a Board of Supervisors license before…

Davis Municipal Code § 35.01.020 makes it unlawful to place or allow to stand any building, fence, vehicle, machinery, merchandise or debris on a sidewalk or street for an unreasonable…

Davis Municipal Code § 35.09.030 puts the cost and duty of repairing a defective sidewalk on the adjacent property owner, whether or not the city has given notice, unless the damage…

Davis Municipal Code § 35.01.040 lets the public works director grant revocable permits for planter boxes, bicycle parking, benches, awnings and portable signs over public sidewalks…

Davis requires anyone peddling, hawking, or soliciting door-to-door for donations, orders, or sales to hold a city clerk permit. Applications go in at least ten days ahead, cost a…

A Davis resident can bar solicitors outright by posting a conspicuous No Solicitation or No Trespassing sign near the entrance. Entering anyway violates the solicitor's own city permit…

Davis bans discharging anything but stormwater into its storm drain system under Chapter 30, implementing its federal Clean Water Act NPDES permit. Violators face notice-and-correct…

Any new construction or substantial improvement inside Davis's mapped flood hazard areas must have its lowest floor, including any basement, built at or above the base flood elevation…

Any construction, filling, grading, or excavation inside a Davis area of special flood hazard needs a development permit from the city engineer, the designated floodplain…

Before breaking ground in Davis, the property owner or leaseholder must submit an erosion and sediment control plan with the grading or building permit application. The city engineer…

Yolo County caps engine idling at ten minutes for vehicles and equipment working in-channel under the Cache Creek Area Plan In-Channel Ordinance. The limit targets sand and gravel…

A dock in Yolo County only counts as a 'Permitted Dock' under Sec. 9-6.02(F) if it has received a County Use Permit or similar entitlement for mooring vessels. Sec. 9-6.11(B) then…

The California Coastal Act, Public Resources Code sections 30000 through 30900, requires Coastal Development Permits for nearly all work in the coastal zone and gives the Coastal…

Davis bans dumping refuse, garbage, or other discarded material anywhere it could reach the storm drain system, streets, or public and private land, under its stormwater discharge…

Every waste generator in Davis must subscribe to the city's gray, green, dark blue, and recycling container collection services unless they hold a permit or waiver to share service or…

Davis lets residents pile leaves and prunings up to five feet in each dimension in the street for uncontainerized pickup under Municipal Code Section 32.01.090, on a fixed fall and…

Davis requires every customer to separate food scraps, food-soiled paper and yard waste into the green container and keep it out of the gray, dark blue and light blue containers under…

Davis collects gray, green and split blue carts from individually serviced residences once a week under Municipal Code Section 32.01.070, with an assisted-service option for residents…

Commercial dumpsters, bin-type containers and roll-off boxes in Davis must be structurally compatible with the contract hauler's collection equipment under Municipal Code Section…

Every generator in Davis, from single-family homes to commercial businesses, must subscribe to the city's collection service for gray, green, dark blue and light blue containers under…

Once recyclables and organics hit the curb or a commercial container in Davis, Municipal Code Section 32.01.060 makes them the property of the city or its contract hauler, and it is…

Davis residents must set their gray, green and split blue carts in the gutter next to the curb, never on the sidewalk, and keep three feet between carts under Municipal Code Section…

In unincorporated Yolo County, only your county-franchised hauler may legally collect bulky items like mattresses or old furniture; there is no free curbside bulk-item day. Section…

Davis treats an unsecured vacant or abandoned building, or a pile of dirt, sand, gravel or concrete left on a lot, as a public nuisance under Municipal Code Section 23.01.030. The code…

A Davis building that is dilapidated, fire-hazardous or otherwise unsafe, or that meets the state definition of a substandard building under Health and Safety Code Section 17920.3, is…

Davis code compliance enforces a detailed list of visual blight conditions under Municipal Code Section 23.01.030(9), covering junk and debris, discarded furniture and appliances, and…

Davis Municipal Code Article 8.17 defines light trespass as artificial light that produces unnecessary and unwanted illumination of a neighboring property, and requires every outdoor…

Davis adopted its Outdoor Lighting Control ordinance to preserve the night sky as a natural resource, requiring fully shielded fixtures on new commercial, industrial, multifamily and…

Any externally illuminated sign, billboard, advertising display or building identification sign covered by Davis's Outdoor Lighting Control ordinance must use top-mounted fixtures that…

Davis adopts the current California Building Code and related Title 24 codes by reference under Article 8.01 of the Municipal Code, rather than writing its own construction standards…

Davis adds a local sprinkler trigger to the state Fire Code: any building other than a Group R (residential) occupancy needs automatic sprinklers once it hits 5,000 square feet, 25…

Before selling certain residential units in Davis, owners must apply for a resale inspection under Municipal Code Article 8.10. The city inspects for health and safety code compliance…

Davis layers a local Energy Efficiency Reach Code and CALGreen amendments on top of the state's mandatory Green Building Standards Code: new single-family homes must pre-wire for Level…

Davis adopts the 2025 California Plumbing Code with a signature local amendment: every new single-family home or duplex needs a 3/4-inch "T" fitting after the main shut-off valve so a…

New and altered dwellings in Davis must meet the door hardware standards in the Minimum Security Building Standards article: solid-core doors on exterior and garage-entry doors…

Before a tenant moves into a Davis rental home or apartment, the owner must install a carbon monoxide device in any unit with a fossil-fuel heater, fireplace, or attached garage…

Davis adopts the 2025 California Electrical Code with two local amendments: new single-family homes need a dedicated receptacle for a future hot water recirculation pump, and new or…

A stand-alone child care center for more than fourteen children isn't a by-right use anywhere in unincorporated Yolo County. Sec. 8-2.506(h) requires a Site Plan Review in the RR-5…

Davis extends protected status beyond city-owned trees to certain private trees it calls trees of significance: any tree five inches or more in diameter on commercial, multifamily, or…

Davis lets any person propose a tree for landmark status through city council designation, based on criteria like size, age, historical interest, or unusual form. Designated owners get…

Davis requires anyone subdividing land to plant a street tree in the city tree easement for every lot fronting a public street, following the city's tree planting requirements, and to…

Davis property owners must repair any leak, break or malfunction in a water fixture or water-using device connected to city water as soon as they discover it, or within 72 hours of a…

Davis requires new and rehabilitated landscape projects to plumb for recycled water and to actually irrigate with it once available, under the city's Water Efficient Landscaping…

Once the Board of Supervisors declares a Level 3 Drought Response, Yolo County Code Sec. 6-8.1104(b) bars installing any new turf or hydroseed and limits new or expanded landscaping to…

In Davis's R-1 single-family district, no principal building may exceed two stories or 30 feet, and no accessory building may exceed one story or 15 feet, unless an exception in…

In Davis's R-1-6 and R-1-8 single-family zones, side yards run 5 feet interior and 15 feet on a street side, front yards are 20 feet, and rear yards are 20 feet, jumping to 25 feet for…

Davis caps R-1 single-family lot coverage at 40 percent under Municipal Code Section 40.03.060, and separately limits the floor area ratio to 40 percent plus up to 500 square feet of…

Davis bans generator use during quiet hours at Safe Parking Program host sites, the permitted vehicle-shelter locations set up under Article 26.12. Section 26.12.030(d)(13) ties quiet…

Air conditioners, pool pumps and similar mechanical equipment are exempt from Davis's noise chapter under Municipal Code Section 24.02.040(c), as long as the equipment is in good…

Davis's general noise ordinance bans any noise that unreasonably disturbs a neighborhood's peace and quiet, and § 24.05.010 specifically lists pitch, including very low bass or high…

Davis has not banned facial recognition software outright, but the Surveillance Technology Ordinance lists it as a regulated technology and requires city council approval at a public…

Davis requires city council approval at a public hearing before any city department, including police, can acquire or newly deploy automatic license plate readers under the…

Davis Municipal Code Article 26.11 makes it "unlawful and a public nuisance" to camp, occupy camp facilities, or use camp paraphernalia on any public property, or on private property…

Davis has no fixed after-dark curfew printed into its code; instead Section 27.02.170 lets the director of community services close any section of a city park, entirely or to certain…

Minors under 18 may not be in a public place or an establishment in unincorporated Yolo County between 10 p.m. (11 p.m. during daylight saving time) and 6 a.m., and parents who…

Davis Municipal Code Chapter 40A shields properly conducted agricultural operations from local nuisance claims unless a court would find a nuisance under state Civil Code standards…

Davis requires a recorded deed restriction and written notice whenever a discretionary development permit affects property within 1,000 feet of agricultural land or operations. A…

Davis caps garage, patio and yard sales at three per calendar year for any address under Section 40.26.132 of the zoning code. Each sale can run no more than two consecutive days…

Davis caps sound at the complainant's property plane under Municipal Code Section 24.02.020: 55 dBA daytime and 50 dBA from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. at homes, and 60 dBA daytime with 55 dBA…

Davis names no data-center use. A data center fits the Industrial (I) district by right as a research, laboratory, or storage use, or the Industrial Administration and Research (I-R)…

Davis Municipal Code § 34.06.020 amends the adopted Yolo County tobacco retailer permit code to add local definitions of 'Characterizing Flavor' and 'Flavored Tobacco Product,' folding…

California prohibits sale of tobacco and vapor products to anyone under 21 statewide under Business and Professions Code 22958, enacted by SBX2-7 in 2016. The Tobacco 21 standard…

Davis bans cannabis retailers from every residential zoning district and caps storefront retailers citywide at five for the first eighteen months after Ordinance No. 2514 took effect…

Davis requires cannabis retailers to stay at least 600 feet from any public park or K-12 school, measured property line to property line, unless the city council specifically finds no…

Health and Safety Code section 11362.2 grants every adult 21 or older the statewide right to cultivate up to six cannabis plants indoors, and bars local governments from completely…

Davis's code never uses the word "drone," but Section 27.02.100 bars flying model airplanes or operating model boats, cars, or "model crafts of any kind or description" on park…

Yolo County bans commercial drone use in its parks outright unless the Director gives written authorization or issues a permit. Sec. 9-3.220 draws a hard line between recreational…

Yolo County allows recreational drone flying in its parks by default under Sec. 9-3.220, but a park can be closed to drones by a posted order at the entrance or nearby access point…

Davis runs an expedited rooftop solar permitting program under Article 8.21: walk-in applications get a plan review and permit issued over the counter or within one business day, and a…

Davis must issue small residential rooftop solar permits over the counter or within one business day under Municipal Code Article 8.21, adopted to comply with Government Code Section…

California Civil Code section 714 makes any HOA covenant, deed restriction, or governing document provision that effectively prohibits or restricts a solar energy system void and…

Davis sorts every business into one of five gross-receipts tax groups, Group I through Group V, under Municipal Code Article 19.04. The group a business falls into, from grocery stores…

Davis designates historic landmarks, merit resources and historic districts through the Historical Resources Management Ordinance in Article 40.23 of the Municipal Code. The…

Using a grill, smoker or other outdoor cooking device at a Davis public event requires a police-issued permit tied to the event's street use or parade permit. Applicants must be 18 or…

Yolo County Code Sec. 6-3.02 makes it unlawful to open, operate, or maintain a food facility, a term that under Sec. 6-3.01(c) covers any operation that stores, prepares, packages…

California's Safe Sidewalk Vending Act (SB 946) preempts most local bans on sidewalk vending, allowing only objective health, safety, and welfare regulations.

Yolo County's water-efficient landscaping ordinance, Sec. 8-3.108(a)(5), bans planting invasive species on any covered new or rehabilitated landscape project. The list is the…

Yolo County bans commercial filming or photography in county parks unless the Director gives written permission first. Sec. 9-3.213 groups filming with other commercial activities, all…

California sets a statewide minimum wage floor under Labor Code 1182.12, $16.90 per hour for all employers as of January 2026. Local governments are not preempted and may set higher…

California's Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act under Labor Code 245-249 mandates paid sick leave for nearly all employees statewide. SB 616 (2023) raised the minimum to 40 hours…

California regulates concealed carry weapons licenses statewide under Penal Code 26150 through 26225. Senate Bill 2 (2023) imposes uniform sensitive-place restrictions and applicant…

California preempts most local firearm regulation under Government Code 53071 and Penal Code 25605, reserving licensing, registration, and manufacture authority to the state. However…

California broadly prohibits open carry of firearms statewide under Penal Code 25850 (loaded firearms in public) and Penal Code 26350 (open carry of unloaded handguns). The prohibition…

California prohibits carrying loaded firearms in vehicles statewide under Penal Code 25400 and 25850. Unloaded handguns transported in private vehicles must be in a locked container or…

California HOAs may levy regular and special assessments, charge late fees and interest, record liens, and ultimately foreclose on delinquent owners under the Davis-Stirling Act. State…

California's Davis-Stirling Act gives every HOA member the right to inspect and copy association records under Civil Code § 5205. Boards must produce current-year records within 10…

California overrides HOA governing documents on several owner protections. The Davis-Stirling Act and related Civil Code sections bar HOAs from prohibiting solar systems, U.S. flag…

California voids any HOA governing-document clause that effectively bans or unreasonably restricts a clothesline or drying rack in an owner's exclusive-use backyard. Civil Code Section…

Civil Code section 4735 voids any HOA rule that bans low-water plants, turf replacement, or artificial turf, and bars fines for cutting back watering during a declared drought…

Civil Code § 4745 voids any HOA covenant or governing-document rule that prohibits or unreasonably restricts installing an EV charging station in an owner's unit or designated parking…

Civil Code § 4705 bars every California homeowners association from limiting a member's display of the United States flag on their own lot or within their exclusive-use common area…

California law caps homeowners association fines at $100 per violation or the amount listed in the association's published penalty schedule, whichever is less. Civil Code section 5850…

A California homeowners association cannot foreclose on a member’s home over unpaid dues until the delinquent assessments alone reach $1,800, or until the assessments secured by the…

Civil Code § 4741 bars every California homeowners association from adopting or enforcing a rule that prohibits, or unreasonably restricts, renting out a separate interest, and sets a…

Sobriety checkpoints are lawful in California and stopping at one is a statutory obligation, not a courtesy. Vehicle Code § 2814.2(a) requires a driver to stop and submit to a sobriety…

California is one of the few states that answers this by statute rather than by case law alone. Penal Code § 148(g) says that photographing or making an audio or video recording of a…

California has no general stop-and-identify statute. The old Penal Code § 647(e), which required a person lawfully detained to give "credible and reliable" identification, was held…

California has no statute that requires you to consent to a search of your car, and none that requires an officer to warn you that you may refuse. What the Legislature and the voters…

California prohibits grocery stores and large retailers from providing single-use plastic carryout bags under Public Resources Code 42280-42288, enacted by SB 270 (2014) and ratified…

California restricts expanded polystyrene food containers statewide through SB 54 (2022) packaging requirements under Public Resources Code 42040-42081. The law mandates that…

California Public Resources Code 42270-42273, enacted by AB 1884 (2018), prohibits full-service restaurants from providing single-use plastic straws unless requested by the customer…

California works from a closed list: Vehicle Code section 24003 says no vehicle may carry any lamp or illuminating device not required or permitted by the code, so an accessory light…

California measures dash cam placement in square inches. Vehicle Code section 26708(b)(13) lets a video event recorder occupy a seven-inch square in the lower corner of the windshield…

Lane splitting is lawful in California. Vehicle Code section 21658.1, added by AB 51 in 2016, defines it as driving a motorcycle with two wheels in contact with the ground between rows…

California does not let you put a cover over your license plate. Vehicle Code section 5201(c) allows exactly two things: a full car cover on a lawfully parked vehicle, and a license…

No section of the California Vehicle Code makes it an offense for a private motorist to own, carry or use a radar detector. The prohibition in Vehicle Code section 28150 reaches only…

California permits metal studded tires only between November 1 and April 30, and only where the studs are tungsten carbide or another suitable material and the metal touching the road…

California never publishes a "legal VLT" for front side windows because it does not permit aftermarket darkening there at all. Vehicle Code section 26708(d) allows only clear…