California Codes, Civil Code - CIV, Division 4 — General Provisions, Part 5 — Common Interest Developments, Chapter 5 — Property Use and Maintenance, Article 1 — Protected Uses, Section 4752

(a) Any covenant, restriction, or condition contained in any deed, contract, security instrument, or other instrument, and any provision of a governing document shall be void and unenforceable to the extent that it prohibits, or includes conditions that have the effect of prohibiting, a substantially similar reconstruction of a residential structure that was destroyed or damaged in a disaster.

(b) A court shall award reasonable attorney’s fees to the owner of a separate interest in a common interest development who prevails in an action to enforce this section.

(c) For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply:

(1) “Disaster” means any of the following:

(A) A state of disaster or emergency declared by the federal government.

(B) A state of emergency proclaimed by the Governor pursuant to Section 8625 of the Government Code.

(C) A local emergency proclaimed by a local governing body or official pursuant to Section 8630 of the Government Code.

(2) “Objective design standard” means a standard that involves no personal or subjective judgment and is uniformly verifiable by reference to an external and uniform benchmark or criterion available and knowable by both the applicant and the association before submittal.

(3) “Substantially similar reconstruction of a residential structure” means a proposal that rebuilds a residential structure on a separate interest located in a common interest development that complies with all of the following:

(A)(i) The local building code.

(ii) For purposes of this subparagraph, a proposal shall be considered to be in compliance with the local building code if the building permit is deemed approved by the local agency with appropriate jurisdiction.

(B) The interior livable square footage of the rebuilt residential structure will not exceed 110 percent of the square footage that existed when the structure was damaged or destroyed.

(C) The exterior footprint of the rebuilt residential structure will meet either of the following:

(i) The rebuilt residential structure will be constructed in the same location and to the same exterior dimensions as the structure that was damaged or destroyed.

(ii) The setbacks for the rebuilt residential structure will be at least four feet from the side and rear lot lines.

(D) The height of the rebuilt residential structure will not exceed 110 percent of the height that existed when the residential structure was damaged or destroyed, or 100 percent of the height allowed by the governing documents of the association in effect at the time the proposal was submitted, whichever is greater.

(E) Any objective design standard in effect at the time the original residential structure was destroyed or damaged in a disaster, provided that the standard does not unreasonably increase the cost to construct, effectively prohibit the construction of, or extinguish the ability to otherwise rebuild, a substantially similar residential structure.