What the recorded documents actually say about Cedar Creek in Middlebury — fences, sheds, pools, pets, parking and the rest — with the part of the document each answer comes from.
7 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 recorded protective restrictions, covenants, limitations and easements for Cedar Creek Subdivision in Elkhart County, Indiana, recorded on December 14, 2001 as instrument 2001-40747 and tied to the plat at Plat Book 27, Page 46. They were read from the complete document rather than a shortened extract, and checked line by line against two other separately scanned copies of the same recording, with several paragraphs confirmed by eye against the scanned images themselves.
One recorded amendment is also on file, and it has been taken into account here. It is titled Amendment to Covenants and Restrictions for Cedar Creek, Section One, dated June 22, 2007 and recorded on July 10, 2007 as instrument 2007-18860. It changes none of the rules on this page. What it does is add a utility easement across Lot 16 from the cul-de-sac to the adjoining property to the south, give the owner of Lot 21 the right to divide and sell part of that lot and to run a driveway and utilities across the remainder, provide that the owner of Lot 20 pays half the lot fee for Lot 21, and then expressly ratify the rest of the 2001 covenants as originally recorded. If you are buying Lot 16, Lot 20 or Lot 21, that amendment is worth reading in full.
Two further things are worth knowing. The recorded declaration runs its numbered restrictions from 1 to 34 but skips number 19 entirely; all three scanned copies agree, and the text runs straight from 18 to 20 with ordinary spacing, so this looks like a numbering slip by whoever drafted it rather than a rule that went missing. And the 2007 amendment calls the 2001 declaration the covenants for Cedar Creek, Section One, while the declaration itself speaks of all the lots in the subdivision and of additions to the sections of the plat. It names no lot numbers, so exactly which plats and sections it now covers is not settled by these documents alone.
What is on file does not include the association's bylaws, its articles of incorporation, or any rules the board has adopted since, and none of those were available to read. The covenants have been amendable by the owners of fifty-one percent of the lots since 2011, and the dues ceiling quoted above is a 2001 figure. Before you make a decision that turns on any of this, ask the association for its current rules and dues, and have your title company confirm with the Elkhart County Recorder what is recorded against the lot you are buying, including anything recorded after July 2007.
Paragraph 7 allows two kinds of fence and no others: a wood rail fence no more than four feet high, or a privacy fence around an immediate patio no more than six feet high. Either must conform to the architectural standards set by the style of the home built on the lot and be approved in writing by the Architectural Control Committee, unless the Committee grants a written variance or the fence is approved under the pools and recreational facilities paragraph. The same paragraph then states that waterfront lots get no fences, and that perimeter fencing of any type, naming hedges and other growing fences, chain link and split rail, is not permitted on a lot except as approved in advance in writing by the Committee. Paragraph 17 adds a sight-line limit at corners: nothing between two and six feet above the roadway may sit inside the triangle formed by the street lines and a line joining them twenty-five feet back from the intersection, or within ten feet of where a driveway meets the street.
Paragraph 12 governs detached buildings. It names a detached pet shelter, a play house, play structures, a structure designed for swimming pool apparatus, and then any other personal property, so an ordinary storage shed appears to fall under it. Whatever is built must be of quality construction, kept in attractive and neat appearance, blend with the established home, and be submitted to the Architectural Control Committee for approval before construction begins. The Committee may require protective screening around the structure, and a well or pump house needs its written approval as well. Paragraph 9 separately bars a trailer, basement, tent, shack, garage, bar or other outbuilding from being used as a residence on any lot, temporarily or permanently. The document sets no size, height or setback figure for a detached building, so the Committee appears to judge those case by case.
Paragraph 23 states that no recreational or commercial vehicles, naming campers, trailers, trucks, boats and snowmobiles, may be kept in open areas in the subdivision, whether those open areas are on or off the owner's lot. The document never defines what counts as an open area, and that sentence does not mention a garage either way, so where a camper or a boat may sit is not fully settled by the wording. The same paragraph goes on to say that vehicles parked overnight are to be located entirely within a garage or driveway, but that sentence is written about motor vehicles generally rather than about recreational vehicles, so it may not be read as permission to keep a camper. What the paragraph plainly bars is keeping one of these vehicles in an open area. If you own a camper, a boat or a trailer, this is worth confirming in writing with the association before you buy.
Paragraph 11 states that no above ground pools are permitted. An in-ground pool may be built, but not until the plans and specifications have been approved in writing by the Cedar Creek Architectural Control Committee, and the same requirement covers permanent or paved recreational and athletic facilities. Any lighting fixtures for such a facility need that prior approval too. Paragraph 12 adds that a structure designed for swimming pool apparatus must also go to the Committee before construction, and the Committee may require protective screening around it. Paragraph 1 is where the approval process sits: plans go in writing, and the Committee's approval or refusal comes back in writing with reasons for a refusal stated.
Paragraph 2 requires written approval from the Architectural Control Committee before any building or structure is erected, constructed, placed, maintained or altered on a lot, and before the natural topography or drainage of a lot is altered. The plans have to show the floor plan, the quality of construction materials, the outside colors to be used, how the external design sits with existing structures, and the location relative to lot lines, topography and finish grade. Three complete sets go in; two stay with the developer and one comes back. Approval is also required for pavement of any kind. The Committee answers in writing, with reasons given for a refusal, and nothing that does not comply fully with the approved plans may be built. Paragraph 1 adds that trees to be removed must be marked first and the developer given three days to review them, and that each dwelling must be built by a builder the developer has approved.
Paragraph 25 allows an 18 inch satellite dish, provided it is not conspicuously visible from the street or from adjacent homes. The same paragraph is firm about everything else: no outside above ground television, AM, FM or short wave radio antenna of any type may be erected or maintained on any lot or structure in Cedar Creek. Utility services, cable television included, are to run underground and not be visible, and street and lot lighting is to sit on posts with no lines showing. The document sets no approval step and no placement rule for the dish beyond the visibility test, so where it goes may be a judgement call worth settling with the association 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 →Paragraph 33 requires every lot to be kept in good and orderly fashion with landscaping in keeping with the pattern established in the subdivision, and states that no lot may be left overgrown or weed infested. It also requires every lot to have an underground irrigation system able to adequately water all cultivated areas, kept in good working order and run enough to maintain proper growing conditions. Paragraph 18 adds that side, front and rear yards must be planted with grass, sod or ground cover within one hundred twenty days after the structure is finished or occupied, whichever comes first, and that on wooded lots the ground between the tree line and the curb must be planted and kept neat. Vacant lots are to be kept free of rubbish and weeds with grass at a reasonable length; after ten days notice the association may do that work and bill the owner. Paragraph 6 limits screen planting to seventy-two inches between the building setback line and the front lot line, and within thirty feet of the rear lot line on lots abutting the river.
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 →Paragraph 15 states that no animals, livestock or poultry of any kind may be raised, bred or kept on a lot, except that dogs, cats and other household pets may be kept, provided they are not kept, bred or maintained for commercial purposes and are not permitted to become a neighborhood nuisance or hazard in any manner. Read the paragraph to its end, because it does not stop there: it closes by stating that no vicious or attack trained dog may be kept at any time on any lot. The document does not define vicious or attack trained, name any breed, or set a limit on how many pets a household may have. Paragraph 8 separately treats barking dogs as an example of a nuisance, and paragraph 12 requires a detached pet shelter to go to the Architectural Control Committee for approval before it is built.
Paragraph 10 states that no lease of a dwelling unit may be entered into without the prior approval of the association, and that no such lease may run longer than one year. The document does not set out how approval is requested, what the association may take into account, or how long it has to answer, so an owner planning to rent would need to ask the association for its current process. There is no cap stated on how many homes in the subdivision may be rented at one time.
Paragraph 11 reaches basketball by naming it among permanent or paved recreational and athletic facilities, alongside tennis and volleyball courts. Those may not be erected, built or installed on a lot until the plans and specifications have been approved in writing by the Cedar Creek Architectural Control Committee, and any lighting fixtures for them need the same prior approval. The paragraph is written around a permanent or paved court rather than a portable hoop on a driveway, and the document never mentions a portable or wheeled goal either way, so a free-standing hoop appears to sit outside this wording. Paragraph 2 does require Committee approval for pavement of any kind, including pavement for recreational use, so pouring a pad for a hoop would appear to need approval even where the hoop itself does not.
Paragraph 14 bars signs of any kind from public view on a lot, then carves out exceptions. One sign of not more than five square feet may advertise the property for sale or rent. A builder may use a sign of any dimension to advertise the property for sale or rent, and a sign of any dimension during the construction and sales period. The developer also reserves the right to put up the signs it wants in order to promote and sell lots and structures in the development. The document names no other exception, so political, contractor, security and holiday signs are not addressed one way or the other.
Paragraph 23 states that no motor vehicle of any kind or description may be parked, kept, stored or otherwise maintained on any street or lawn area, and that no vehicle may be parked on a street between 2:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. Any vehicle parked overnight is to be located entirely within a garage or driveway. The same paragraph separately bars recreational and commercial vehicles from open areas in the subdivision, on or off the lot. Paragraph 3 requires every dwelling to have a full-size attached garage able to hold at least two cars and no more than three without written consent from the Architectural Control Committee, and paragraph 13 requires driveways to be concrete, at least twelve feet wide and four inches thick, with a circular drive at least eight feet wide. The document says nothing about how many vehicles a household may keep or about guest parking.
Paragraph 2 carries a subsection headed Home Occupations, and what it says is that no lot or lots may be used for any purpose other than as a single-family residence. The document does not define a home occupation, set a threshold for customer traffic, deliveries, employees or signage, or carve out a home office, so the wording as recorded bars non-residential use of a lot rather than listing particular activities. The signs paragraph allows no business sign, which points the same way. How an association would apply this to work done quietly from a home office is not something these documents settle, so it is worth asking before you rely on it.
The document never uses the words short-term rental or vacation rental, and names no booking platform, so no paragraph is aimed at that directly. What reaches it is paragraph 10: no lease of a dwelling unit may be entered into without the prior approval of the association, and no lease may run longer than one year. On that wording the one-year cap does not stand in the way of a short stay, but the approval requirement does appear to apply to any lease, however short. The document sets out no process, no standard and no deadline for that approval, so an owner considering short stays would need to take it up with the association 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 →Paragraph 16 states that no lot may be used or maintained as a dumping ground for rubbish, grass clippings, leaves, tree limbs or compost, and that trash, garbage and other waste may not be kept except in sanitary containers, with all storage and disposal equipment kept clean and sanitary. Any debris left anywhere in the subdivision may be cleaned up by the developer at the offender's expense, and while a home is under construction debris must be contained so it does not litter neighboring property, with the association able to clean it up at the lot owner's cost if it becomes a general nuisance. Paragraph 32 adds that all trash pickup is to happen on one specified day each week, with the Cedar Creek Homeowner's Association choosing that day by majority vote. The document does not say where containers must be stored between collections or when they may be set out.
The document never names a grill, a barbecue or a fire pit, either to permit one or to prohibit one. What it has is paragraph 16, headed Garbage and Refuse Disposal and Open Burning Prohibited: no open burning is permitted on any lot, whether in incinerators, containers or otherwise, and the prohibition is stated to include trash, waste, refuse, building materials, leaves, tree limbs, grass clippings, debris and any other material of any kind. On the face of that wording the target is burning waste in the open rather than cooking, so a contained cooking grill does not appear to be what the paragraph is reaching for. The phrase about incinerators, containers or otherwise does cut the other way, and so does the closing reference to any other material, so this one is genuinely open to argument and worth confirming with the association before you count on it.
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 →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.