Cupertino, CA HOA Rules: Board Governance (2026)

070(L) of the Cupertino Municipal Code, part of the Building Development Regulations for Multiple-Family Residential (R-3) zones, sets governance conditions on any homeowners association created to hold and maintain a development's common areas. Before recordation, the Declaration of Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions must be reviewed by the City Attorney to confirm it is compatible with the intent and conditions of the R-3 development approval, and the CC&Rs must include a clause barring their own modification unless state law requires it, without City review. The same review applies to the Articles of Incorporation and other HOA formation instruments: the City Attorney must review and approve them, and they must include a clause stating the Association cannot be dissolved without the City's written approval and authorization.

On the maintenance side, responsibility for private roads, driveways, parking areas, walkways, landscaping and buildings in the common area rests with the property owner or the HOA to which those areas are deeded. If the HOA lets those areas fall below City standards, the City can step in after giving notice and holding an advertised public hearing, complete the necessary maintenance itself, and record the cost as a lien against the property. Completion and bonding of the original common-area improvements is handled the same way as street improvements under Title 18 (Subdivision), meaning the developer, not the future HOA, bonds for that initial work.

These conditions attach at project approval for any R-3 development with common areas and survive as recorded obligations on the CC&Rs and Articles even after the developer turns the association over to homeowners.