Newport Beach, CA HOA Rules: CC&R Enforcement (2026)

040(D)(1), part of the Zoning Code's applicability rules, states that adopting the Zoning Code is not intended to interfere with, abrogate, annul, or repeal any private agreement, covenant (the code specifically calls out CC&Rs as an example), easement, or restriction between private parties. 050, has no role in policing a homeowners association's internal covenants. If a dispute arises between a resident and an HOA over an architectural rule, parking restriction, or landscaping requirement written into recorded CC&Rs, City building and code enforcement staff will not step in to interpret or enforce that private document; that responsibility falls to the HOA board and, ultimately, the courts under state civil law.

The same subsection draws the reverse line too: where the Zoning Code sets a more restrictive standard than a private covenant, such as a lower fence height or narrower setback, the Zoning Code's stricter public standard controls and the City will enforce that public standard regardless of what the CC&Rs allow. So an HOA cannot use its covenants to permit something the Zoning Code forbids, but the City equally will not use its staff or hearing officers to make a homeowner comply with an HOA-only rule that exceeds City standards. 050(A).