What the recorded documents actually say about Bayridge in Bristol — fences, sheds, pools, pets, parking and the rest — with the part of the document each answer comes from.
10 homes have sold here in the last four years, which is why this neighborhood was compiled early.
Before you rely on this page
These answers come from the Declaration of Covenants and Restrictions of Bayridge, Section 1, made on March 18, 1988 by Bayridge Corporation. The name on the document matches this neighborhood exactly.
Read this part before you rely on the page. The copy of the Declaration in the file here is not a recorded copy. It carries no recorder stamp and no instrument number, and on its final page the signature lines for the developer's president and secretary and for the notary are all blank, with the day of the month left blank as well. What that copy almost certainly is, is an office copy of the text as drafted. Two separate copies of the Association's By-Laws in the same file, one from 1988 and an amendment from 2011, both state that this Declaration was executed on March 18, 1988 and recorded on June 1, 1988 with the Elkhart County Recorder, and both incorporate it by reference. So there is good reason to believe the text below is the governing text. There is no substitute, though, for ordering the recorded instrument from the Elkhart County Recorder or asking your title company for it, and for a purchase you should do that.
Which lots this covers. Section 1 covers Homesites numbered 1 through 18 and Villasites numbered 19 through 66 and 74. That distinction matters more here than in most neighborhoods: Villasites get Association lawn care, irrigation, exterior painting and snow removal and pay a separate maintenance assessment for it, Homesites get none of that, and the minimum house size differs across four separate lot groups. The Declaration also defines Villasite as any lot numbered 19 through 118, which is a larger range than Section 1 actually covers, so there are very likely later sections of Bayridge. No declaration for any later section is in the documents available here. If the lot you care about is numbered above 66, other than 74, check whether a different declaration governs it before relying on anything on this page.
Nothing in these documents amends the use restrictions. The newest item in the file is a 2011 amendment to the Association's By-Laws, which governs how the Association runs itself and changes none of the rules below. The Declaration can be amended by owners of 75 percent of the Homesites, and the board can adopt its own rules and regulations by majority vote, so there may be current rules that are not in the recorded covenants. Ask the Association for its current rules and regulations as well as the covenants.
The copy read here is a scan of paper read by optical character recognition, and parts of it scanned poorly. Where a passage was unreadable it was checked against the page images and against a typed copy of the same declaration kept by the Association, and one clause was transcribed by eye from the page image for that reason.
Perimeter fencing is barred unless the Architectural Control Committee approves it in advance. The clause is broad about what counts: hedges and other growing fences, chain link, split rail, and then any other kind of fence. It is written about perimeter fencing specifically, so a short garden or decorative fence that does not enclose the lot is not squarely addressed either way, and the Committee is the body to ask. No height, material or setback is fixed in the document itself.
This is one of the stricter sheds clauses in the county, and it is worth reading closely before you buy. The paragraph is headed Temporary Structures, but its words run further than the heading: no structure of a temporary character, trailer, basement, tent, shack, garage, barn, tool shed, storage shed, or other outbuilding of any type or nature may be used on a lot at any time, either temporarily or permanently. A tool shed and a storage shed are both named, and the words at any time and permanently leave little room for a seasonal one. No approval route is offered for a shed, which is notable because the very next sentence does offer one for awnings. If storage is part of why you are buying, treat this as a question to settle with the Association in writing first, and remember that every home here is required to have an attached garage for at least two cars.
We don’t have this one confirmed yet — we can ask the association and get you an answer before you commit to anything.
We can find out →Above ground pools are not permitted, and neither are tennis courts. Any other swimming pool may be built only after prior written approval from the Architectural Control Committee. The document sets no size, depth, fencing or placement standard of its own, so what gets approved is at the Committee's discretion. Changing or adding a pool is also caught by the separate exterior-change rule, which names swimming pools directly.
Nothing may be built, placed or altered on a lot, and the natural topography or drainage may not be changed, until the Architectural Control Committee approves the construction plans. A second clause covers an existing home: an owner may not paint, decorate or make any permanent change to the exterior that varies it from the approved plans without prior written approval, and changing sidewalks or driveways, paint color, roof color, adding to the home, or installing a swimming pool all need that approval first. Plans must show floor plan, quality of construction, materials, outside colors, harmony with existing structures, location against lot lines, topography and finish grade, and landscaping detail; two complete sets go in and one comes back. The Committee's decision is described as entirely within its discretion. If you are adding or replacing a driveway, the document also fixes the specification: no stone or cinder, asphalt or concrete only, at least 12 feet wide, asphalt at least 3 inches thick or concrete at least 4 inches, and a circular drive at least 8 feet wide. An awning is named separately and also needs Committee approval. Note that the Committee as originally constituted was appointed by the developer and its authority was written to expire 15 years after the plat was recorded, so ask the Association who reviews plans today.
An outside above-ground television, AM, FM or short-wave radio antenna, or a TV satellite dish of any type, may not be put up on any lot or structure without the prior written consent of the Association. Unlike many covenants of this era the document sets no size limit, such as an 18-inch cap, so the whole question is consent rather than dimensions. Separately, all utility service including electric, gas, telephone and cable television has to run underground and not be visible, and street and lot lighting sits on posts with no visible lines. If a dish matters to you, ask the Association how it handles these requests now.
We don’t have this one confirmed yet — we can ask the association and get you an answer before you commit to anything.
We can find out →Landscaping works differently depending on which kind of lot you buy, and the difference is large. On a Villasite the Association maintains the landscaping and lawn on its own schedule, operates and maintains the irrigation system, decides how often it runs and supplies the water for it; the owner may plant only in accordance with a landscaping plan the Committee has approved. The owner still pays for any tree on the Villasite with a trunk 3 inches or more across, and if the Association gives written notice to remove or maintain a tree and nothing happens within 60 days, it may do the work and bill the owner. On a Homesite the owner may plant and maintain flowers, trees, shrubbery and other plant material freely, so long as it does not alter the topography or impede the lot's drainage, and the owner maintains it at their own expense. Homesites numbered 4 through 11 are the exception: nothing may be planted or installed behind the home except under a landscape plan approved by the Committee, and that plan governs development of the riverbanks and adjacent land, including plantings, paths, seawalls and piers. Every lot must also be planted with grass seed, sod or ground cover within 120 days of the home being completed or occupied, whichever comes first.
We don’t have this one confirmed yet — we can ask the association and get you an answer before you commit to anything.
We can find out →This is the most detailed pet clause you will see in this county, and it has a breed ban in it, so read it before you buy if you own a dog. Dogs, cats and other household pets are permitted; animals, livestock and poultry are otherwise prohibited. Three conditions attach to the pets exception, and the middle one is stricter than most covenants nearby: the pet may not be kept, bred or maintained for any commercial purpose; it may not be housed or kept outside the dwelling; and it may not be permitted to become a neighborhood nuisance or hazard in any manner. Read plainly, an outdoor kennel, run or doghouse is not contemplated by that wording. Pets must be on a leash whenever they are beyond the owner's property lines. No dog or other pet trained for territorial protection or attack, or vicious in nature, may be kept, and the document defines a vicious animal as one that has bitten another animal or a person in an unprovoked attack or has shown other vicious tendencies. Then it goes further: no dog commonly known as a pit bull is allowed in the development, and for this purpose a pit bull is defined as an animal with a lineage of one-fourth or more of American Pit Bull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier, Staffordshire Bull Terrier, Bull Terrier or Staffordshire Terrier. The document sets no limit on the number of pets and no weight limit. How a 1988 breed restriction is enforced today, and how it interacts with assistance animals, is a question for the Association and, if it matters to your purchase, for your own attorney.
No lease of a dwelling may be entered into without the Association's prior approval, and no lease may run longer than one year. The document says nothing about what the Association weighs, how long it has to answer, or whether approval may be withheld, so if renting the home out is part of the plan, get the Association's process and its current position in writing before you commit.
We don’t have this one confirmed yet — we can ask the association and get you an answer before you commit to anything.
We can find out →One sign of no more than 5 square feet advertising the property for sale or rent is permitted. A builder may use a sign of any dimension during the construction and sales period, and the developer reserved the right to put up whatever signs it wanted to promote lot and home sales. Everything else displayed to public view on a lot falls outside those exceptions as the clause is written, so political, contractor, security and yard-event signs have no exception in this document.
We don’t have this one confirmed yet — we can ask the association and get you an answer before you commit to anything.
We can find out →A home business is allowed here, which is less common than you might expect, but the definition is narrow and worth reading in full. A lot may be used only as a single-family residence, except for a home occupation, which the document defines as a use conducted entirely within the dwelling, carried on solely by a member of the immediate family living there, clearly incidental and secondary to living there, and not changing the character of the home. Five conditions go with it: no sign or display visible from outside indicating any non-residential use; no commodity sold on the lot; nobody employed other than an immediate family member living there; no mechanical or electrical equipment used; and no violation of any statute, law or ordinance, including the Elkhart County zoning ordinance. The document then names uses that may not be treated as a home occupation at all: a barber shop, styling salon, beauty parlor, tea room, fortune-telling parlor, animal hospital, or any form of animal care or treatment such as dog trimming. A quiet laptop-and-phone business fits the definition comfortably; anything with customers arriving, stock on hand, an employee, or equipment does not.
The document never uses the words short-term, nightly or vacation rental; it was recorded in 1988. What it has is a lease rule covering leases generally: no lease of a dwelling may be entered into without the Association's prior approval, and no lease may run longer than one year. The restriction is on leasing at all rather than on any minimum stay, so on its face it reaches a short booking as much as a long tenancy, and the one-year limit is a ceiling rather than a floor. An association usually settles this by policy rather than by the recorded text, so ask in writing before counting on rental income.
We don’t have this one confirmed yet — we can ask the association and get you an answer before you commit to anything.
We can find out →No lot may be used or maintained as a dumping ground for rubbish. Trash, garbage and other waste may be kept only in sanitary containers, and all incinerators or other equipment for storing or disposing of such material must be kept in clean and sanitary condition. The document does not say where containers are stored between collections, does not name a collection day, and does not require screening, so those are Association questions.
We don’t have this one confirmed yet — we can ask the association and get you an answer before you commit to anything.
We can find out →Hanging laundry outside is not permitted. The clause bars hanging laundry, rugs or other items outside the dwelling, and it sits in the same sentence that requires Architectural Control Committee approval for an awning. No exception is written for a retractable line, a drying rack or a screened porch, and the document never uses the word clothesline, so an owner who wants to dry outside should take it to the Association rather than read an exception into the wording.
We don’t have this one confirmed yet — we can ask the association and get you an answer before you commit to anything.
We can find out →We don’t have this one confirmed yet — we can ask the association and get you an answer before you commit to anything.
We can find out →Tell us the question and we will get you the answer from the recorded documents.