What the recorded documents actually say about Clayton's Glen in Mishawaka — fences, sheds, pools, pets, parking and the rest — with the part of the document each answer comes from.
2 homes have sold here in the last four years, which is why this neighborhood was compiled early.
Before you rely on this page
Read in full from the page images, not from the OCR text. The source is a single six-page scan (five document pages, the last one duplicated) of the recorded Restrictive Covenants, and the input matched what is on disk - no windowing marker, no missing pages, six pages in the PDF and six page files on disk. But the OCR silently reduced three whole numbered restrictions to unreadable fragments: paragraph 13 (detached outbuildings), paragraph 14 (ANIMALS AND PETS) and paragraph 18 (STORAGE SHEDS, GARDEN SHEDS, POOLS AND BATHHOUSES), and it mislabelled paragraph 3. Working from the OCR text alone would have returned pets, sheds and pools as not_stated - three wrong silences on a covenant that speaks clearly on all three. They were recovered by reading data/vision_pages/hoa__clayton-s-glen/page_000.png through page_003.png directly. Name: the recorded instrument is titled "Restrictive Covenants for Clayton's Glenn" and spells the subdivision Glenn, with two n's, consistently throughout. The MLS community, the county subdivision polygon and this page all spell it Clayton's Glen with one. Treated as the same neighbourhood and not held: the document came out of the listing document package for this community, it is recorded in St. Joseph County where Clayton's Glen sits, it covers a seven-lot plat matching this one, and no separate Clayton's Glenn appears in either the St. Joseph or the Elkhart subdivision data. It reads as the developer's spelling, not a different subdivision. One internal inconsistency worth flagging: paragraph 6 requires improvements to comply with "R-1 zoning regulations of Elkhart County, Indiana", while the easement grant, the drainage clause, the amendment clause and the recording stamp are all St. Joseph County. Mishawaka is in St. Joseph County. That reads as a drafting carry-over from another plat, and the county zoning that actually applies is St. Joseph County's. Topics the document is genuinely silent on, checked word by word and not assumed: fences (no fence clause of any kind, though every building needs committee approval), solar, mailboxes, rentals, short-term rentals, grilling, clotheslines, flags and window decor.
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 storage shed or garden shed needs the Architectural Control Committee's prior written consent before it goes up - the covenants name storage sheds and garden sheds specifically, along with bathhouses and any other accessory building. Whatever is approved has to be high quality, built in a workmanlike manner and kept up. A separate clause also says no detached outbuilding or garage may be put on a lot until the house itself has been built there first.
A boat, boat trailer, pickup camper, motorized dwelling or tent trailer may be kept on a lot only in a carport or an enclosed building, or behind the nearest part of a building to the street - so not in the driveway or the front yard. There is a 48-hour window for loading or unloading. None of it may be lived in, slept in or used for housekeeping while it sits on a lot.
A pool, a bathhouse or an enclosed pool needs the Architectural Control Committee's prior written consent. The covenants name them in the same sentence as sheds and other accessory buildings, and hold them to the same standard - high quality, built in a workmanlike manner, consistently maintained. The document sets no fence, depth, setback or screening spec of its own, so the terms are whatever the committee approves.
Prior written approval from the Architectural Control Committee is required for any building of any kind or description placed in the subdivision, and plans and grade levels have to be approved before any excavation starts. The committee is the developer, or an agent the developer appoints, and it reserves the right to require exterior details - the covenants name steeper roof pitches and trim details - to keep a home consistent with the value of the others built or planned here. The document sets no review deadline and no appeal process.
These covenants were written against big dishes. They bar a television or communication satellite dish until it is small enough to sit inconspicuously in the yard, and leave the acceptable size and concealment for the Architectural Control Committee to set. An exterior antenna mounted on a house or on a lot needs written approval, and no wood utility pole may be put up for any purpose, antenna poles named among them. These are 2009 terms; federal rules on small dishes and antennas have moved since, so what is enforceable today is a question for the committee or a lawyer.
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 →Every owner has to have a landscaped yard, seeded or sodded, within one year of the house being finished. Cleared lots have to be mowed and trimmed at all times, whether or not anyone lives there yet. Separately, nothing may be graded, planted, sodded or surfaced between the front lot line and the edge of the street in a way that reduces the storm drainage - an owner who changes the drainage is personally liable for the damage it causes, and the developer and the county may repair it at that owner's expense.
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 →Household pets are allowed, but on tight terms: a pet has to be confined to the owner's own property, or on a leash when off it, and letting a pet off the premises unleashed is called strictly forbidden. No more than two pets of the same kind may be boarded or housed. Livestock, poultry and fowl may not be kept at all, and selling animals of any kind is barred as commercial activity.
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 basketball hoop or backboard may not be attached to the house. It may go on a metal pole in an appropriate spot on the lot - and the pole has to be metal, because a separate clause bars wood utility poles for any purpose, basketball goal posts named among them. The covenants do not say who decides what an appropriate location is.
Three kinds of sign are allowed and nothing else: a professional sign of not more than one square foot, one sign of not more than five square feet advertising the property for sale or rent, and builder or developer signs during construction and the initial sale period. Five square feet is smaller than a standard real estate yard sign carrying a rider, which is worth knowing before a listing goes up.
A vehicle or trailer without current license plates, running or not, may not be parked or stored on a lot unless it is inside a building. The scanned text is garbled at exactly that clause, so the precise wording is unclear even though the intent is not - worth reading the recorded instrument itself if it matters to you. Boats, campers and other recreational equipment have their own rule and have to be in a carport or enclosed building or behind the house. The covenants say nothing about how many cars may sit in a driveway, or about parking on the street.
The covenants bar manufacturing and commercial enterprise on the property outright, and a second clause bars commercial activity of any kind in the subdivision. They also bar any obnoxious or offensive activity on a lot. The document draws no line between a quiet home office and a business with customers coming and going, so how far the ban reaches in practice is a question for the developer or a lawyer.
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 →The covenants do not ban working on a vehicle, but they close off the places a project car usually lives. Automotive and other mechanical parts not in use are treated as waste, and may be kept only inside the house or inside an enclosed building such as a garage or storage building - exterior storage of them is specifically forbidden. An unplated vehicle or trailer, running or not, may not be stored on a lot, and accumulations of old automobiles or junk are barred outright.
Trash and garbage go in sanitary containers, and the containers and disposal equipment have to be kept clean. The covenants read waste broadly - discarded furniture, appliances, building materials, tools, toys, automotive parts and household fixtures all count - and require all of it to be stored inside the house or inside an enclosed building such as a garage or shed. Exterior storage is specifically forbidden. Every lot has to be kept free of trash whether or not anyone is living there, and illegal dumping on a lot is the lot owner's problem to clean up.
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 →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.