What the recorded documents actually say about Country Creek in Goshen — 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 restrictive covenants for Country Creek in Elkhart County, filed with the Recorder on May 17, 2001 as instrument 2001-13849, together with the homeowners association Articles of Incorporation and By-Laws recorded alongside them as instruments 2001-13850 and 2001-13851. The covenants were read in full from the complete recorded scan on file rather than from a shortened extract, and the numbered restrictions run unbroken from 1 through 45 with none missing in between.
By their own words these covenants apply to lots one through thirty in the Country Creek Subdivision in Goshen. The recorded plat also refers to a lot numbered 31, which that lot range does not include, so anyone buying outside lots one through thirty should ask the Recorder or the title company what governs that parcel.
Nothing on file here changes the 2001 text, and no amendment turned up among the documents available. The covenants let owners holding at least seventy-five percent of the lots record changes, so a later amendment could exist that is not in this set; the Recorder or your title company can confirm. Two of the copies that circulate with listings are retyped, unstamped versions rather than county records, and the answers above were taken from the stamped recorded copy instead.
The recorded plat adds two things the covenants themselves do not say. The subdivision sits in a farming community, and lot owners are barred from objecting to any farming operation, farm or farmer within a two mile radius. Portions of some lots lie within the 100 year flood boundary of the Pine Creek, where no buildings or structures may be constructed.
Fencing is allowed with limits and with written permission. In front of the rear building line of the main house, only a decorative fence up to two feet six inches is permitted, and chain link or wire fence is specifically forbidden there. Rear yard fencing may go up to six feet. All fencing needs written consent from the adjoining property owners and from the Architectural Control Committee; where no homes are built on the adjoining lots, the committee has the final say.
A storage shed or garden shed is allowed only with the prior written consent of all adjoining residential property owners, and the document says that consent is not to be unreasonably withheld. A separate restriction says no outbuilding of any kind may be placed in the subdivision without that same neighbor consent plus the written approval of the Architectural Control Committee. Any such structure must be high quality, built in a workmanlike manner and kept attractive, and a detached outbuilding or garage may not go up before the house itself is built. Where no homes are built on the adjoining lots, the committee has the final say.
Campers, boats, boat trailers, travel trailers, pickup campers, motorized dwellings and tent trailers are grouped as major recreational equipment. They may not be parked or stored on a lot except in a carport, in an enclosed building, or behind the nearest portion of a building to the street, and they may sit on a lot for up to 48 hours for loading or unloading. So the document does not ban keeping one at home; it limits where it may sit. None of them may be used for living, sleeping or housekeeping while parked anywhere in the subdivision. A separate restriction adds that a trailer of any kind without current license plates may only be kept in a completely enclosed building.
The restriction names pool or bath houses, any other accessory building, and an enclosed pool, and says none may be placed without the prior written consent of all adjoining residential property owners, which is not to be unreasonably withheld. Read closely, it reaches pool structures and enclosed pools; it does not plainly name an open, unenclosed swimming pool either way, so a buyer planning one may want to ask the association and the committee before relying on that gap. Where no homes are built on the adjoining lots, the Architectural Control Committee has the final say.
There is architectural control. Plans and grade levels must be approved by the Country Creek Architectural Control Committee before any excavation work, and the committee is given the right to require exterior details such as steeper roof pitches, porches or trim details to keep homes consistent in value with others built or proposed in the subdivision. The wording is aimed squarely at building a house; later changes reach the committee through the specific items that name it, which are outbuildings and sheds, fencing, exterior antennas, satellite dish concealment and the location of the post light. The committee was originally the developer or his appointed agents, so ask the association who approves today.
Satellite dishes are limited rather than banned. The document permits dishes of 20 inches or smaller that can be visually concealed from the street, and says the acceptable concealment is to be set by the Architectural Control Committee. It also anticipates allowing dishes once they become small enough to sit inconspicuously in the yard. Separately, no exterior antenna may be mounted on a house or lot without the committee's written approval, and no wood utility pole may be put up for any purpose including an antenna pole. This language was written in 2001, so how it is applied now is worth confirming with the association.
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 is required rather than restricted. Each property owner must have a landscaped and seeded or sodded yard within four months after the residence is finished, and every lot must be mowed, trimmed and free of debris at all times, whether or not a house is on it. One limit: nothing may be graded, planted, sodded or surfaced between the front lot line and the outer edge of the street in a way that reduces or impedes storm drainage, and an owner who alters the drainage can be held personally liable for the damage.
The mailbox is not the owner's choice. Each home must have a mailbox of the same design and type as specified by the developer. The document sets no design itself and names no current source, so ask the association what the standard box is now.
Household pets are allowed with conditions, and farm animals are not. The document bars animals or poultry from being kept or housed in the subdivision and bars any commercial activity in animals or livestock, then permits personal pets so long as they stay on the owner's property or are on a leash off it. Letting a pet off the property unleashed is called strictly forbidden, and so is boarding or housing more than two pets of the same kind. There is no breed restriction anywhere in the 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 →Basketball goals are addressed directly. No hoop or backboard may be attached to a house, but a hoop and backboard may be attached to a metal pole placed in an appropriate location on the lot. A separate restriction bars wood poles on a lot for any purpose, basketball goal posts included, so the pole has to be metal. The document does not say who decides whether a location is appropriate.
Yard signs are tightly limited. Nothing may be displayed to public view on a lot except 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 signs the builder or developer used during construction and the initial sale period. Political, sports and seasonal signs are not mentioned either way.
Everyday parking of a licensed, working vehicle is not restricted. What is restricted is storing the rest: any automotive vehicle or trailer, working or not, that has no current license plates may only be parked or stored in a completely enclosed building. Recreational equipment has its own rule limiting it to a carport, an enclosed building or behind the nearest portion of a building to the street, with a 48 hour window for loading. The document also bars accumulations of old automobiles or junk anywhere in the subdivision, and bars outdoor storage of automotive and other mechanical parts, which must be kept inside the house or an enclosed garage, garden shed or storage building.
The document bars any manufacturing or commercial enterprise from being maintained on the real estate, with the only exceptions being model homes and homes used as temporary subdivision sales offices. A second restriction bars commercial activity of any kind, and the lots are limited to single family dwellings. The document does not define where a quiet home office with no customers, signage or deliveries falls, so an owner planning to work from home may want to ask the association how it reads that; the sign rule separately allows a professional sign of up to one square foot.
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 →Trash and waste must be kept only in sanitary containers, and all equipment for storing or disposing of it kept clean and sanitary. The document defines waste broadly, including discarded furniture, appliances, building materials, tools, toys and automotive or mechanical parts, and requires all of it to be stored inside the house or inside an enclosed garage, garden shed or storage building. Exterior storage of those items is specifically forbidden. Burning household trash, garbage or construction material is not permitted indoors or outdoors, incinerator or not. The association By-Laws also let the Board arrange uniform refuse collection on the same day for everyone and assess the cost to all owners.
No document here names a grill, either to allow one or to ban one. The only fire-related rule bans burning household trash, garbage or construction material, indoors or outdoors, whether or not an incinerator is used. On the face of that wording the object is waste rather than fire generally, so a contained cooking grill does not appear to be what it reaches. That is a reading of a clause written about rubbish, not a permission the document grants, and an owner who wants certainty can ask the association.
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.