← HOA answers

Deer Park

What the recorded documents actually say about Deer Park in Granger — fences, sheds, pools, pets, parking and the rest — with the part of the document each answer comes from.

5 homes have sold here in the last four years, which is why this neighborhood was compiled early.

Before you rely on this page

TWO THINGS TO PLAN FOR HERE. Deer Park is on SEPTIC - each house carries its own sanitary septic tank installed at the owner's expense and approved by the county, and no other sewage disposal is permitted, so budget a septic inspection into any offer. And the timelines are unusually short: a structure once begun must be complete in 150 days, and the yard has to be seeded or sodded within ten days of the house being occupied. The camper and boat rule is the friendliest part of this covenant - storage is allowed on a screened concrete pad - but the committee's written approval has to come BEFORE the pad is poured.

What you can build and change

Conditional

Fences

The only perimeter fencing permitted is split rail - THREE rails high here, where most nearby covenants say two - and no more than four feet. A privacy fence up to six feet is allowed around the immediate patio, matching the architectural standard set by the style of the house and approved by the committee in writing, unless the committee grants a written variance.

Paragraph 7 - Perimeter Fencing
Conditional

Sheds & outbuildings

A detached storage building or pet shelter for lawn tools, toys, pool equipment or pets is allowed if it is quality construction, kept attractive and neat, blends with the house, and goes to the architectural control committee for approval before construction starts. The committee may require protective screening around it. No trailer, modular, manufactured or prebuilt home, basement, tent, shack, barn or temporary structure may be moved onto or built on a lot and lived in - the one exception is a construction trailer while the house is being built.

Paragraphs 9 and 11 - Prohibited Structures, Detached Buildings
Conditional

RVs, boats & trailers

More workable than most of the county, if you plan for it. Campers, trailers, trucks and boats may not be kept in open areas anywhere in the subdivision, on your lot or off it - BUT they may be kept on a permanent concrete pad built for storage, screened from the road, with the committee's WRITTEN PERMISSION obtained BEFORE the pad is poured. Get that approval in hand first; the pad is the expensive part. Separately, riding a recreational vehicle on the grounds is prohibited - motorcycles, dune buggies and snowmobiles are the examples given. No such vehicle may ever be occupied or used as a residence.

Paragraph 21 - Recreational and Commercial Vehicles
✗ Not allowed

Swimming pools & hot tubs

Above-ground pools are not permitted. An in-ground pool is not separately addressed, so it falls under the committee's general approval requirement - ask before you plan one. A detached building for pool equipment is allowed with approval.

Paragraph 10 - Pools, with Paragraph 11
Conditional

Exterior changes & additions

Nothing is built, placed, altered or re-graded until the architectural control committee approves the plans - floor plan, quality of construction, materials, exterior colours, how the design sits with the houses already there, and placement against the lot lines, topography and finish grade. Two complete sets go in, one kept and one returned. The deadlines here are tight: anything begun has to be FINISHED WITHIN 150 DAYS or removed completely, and the developer originally held a repurchase option if no house went up within six months of buying the lot. No building sits closer than eight feet to a side line, with the two side yards totalling at least twenty feet, or closer than forty feet to the rear line. Every lot carries a dusk-to-dawn post light on an electric eye, of a type the committee approves, in front of the front setback line.

Paragraphs 3, 5, 16 and 20 - Architectural Control, Building Location, Completion Date, Lighting
Conditional

Satellite dishes & antennas

Not a flat ban, which is unusual for a 1987 covenant. No above-ground television, AM, FM or short-wave antenna, satellite dish or earth receiving station may be put up - UNLESS it sits at the rear of the lot, is screened from the road, and the location has been approved by the architectural control committee. All utility service including cable runs underground and out of sight.

Paragraph 22 - Utilities and Television Antennas
Not stated

Solar panels

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 →
Conditional

Landscaping, trees & gardens

The fastest yard deadline in this directory, so read it before closing on new construction. Side, front and rear yards have to be planted with grass seed, sod or ground cover within TEN DAYS of the house being occupied - not the 120 days most of the county allows - or as soon as warmer weather permits if you move in during winter, unless the committee approves otherwise. Nothing permanent may be built on the platted easements, and the grading of a drainage swale may not be changed.

Paragraph 16 - Completion Date, with Paragraph 6
Not stated

Mailboxes

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 →

How you can live here

Conditional

Pets

Dogs, cats and other household pets are allowed, as long as none is kept, bred or maintained commercially and none becomes a neighbourhood nuisance or hazard. Livestock and poultry may not be raised, bred or kept. A detached pet shelter is permitted with the committee's approval.

Paragraph 14 - Livestock and Poultry
Not stated

Renting your home

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 →
Not stated

Basketball hoops

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 →
Conditional

Yard signs

One sign of no more than five square feet advertising the property for sale or rent, plus a builder's sign of any size during the construction and sales period.

Paragraph 13 - Signs
Conditional

Street parking

Driveways have to be at least twelve feet wide, asphalt at least three inches thick or concrete at least four inches. Stone and cinder driveways are not permitted. A circular drive in front of the house may be as narrow as eight feet. A concrete storage pad for a camper or boat needs the committee's written permission before it is built.

Paragraph 12 - Driveways, with Paragraph 21
Conditional

Running a business from home

A home occupation is allowed if it is carried on entirely inside the house and stays clearly secondary to living there, with no sign or display visible from outside, no commodity sold on the premises, and nobody employed from outside the immediate family living there. Anything beyond that is not a permitted use - every lot is restricted to single-family residential use.

Paragraph 2(b) - Home Occupations
Not stated

Short-term rentals (Airbnb)

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 →
Not stated

Vehicle repair in the driveway

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 →
Conditional

Trash & recycling containers

No lot is used as a dumping ground for rubbish. Trash, garbage and other waste go in sanitary containers, and any incinerator or storage equipment is kept clean and sanitary. Oil and fuel storage tanks go underground or are concealed inside the house, the basement or the attached garage.

Paragraphs 15 and 18 - Garbage and Refuse Disposal, Fuel Storage Tanks
Conditional

Grilling & outdoor cooking

No fire may be allowed to burn on any street or roadway in the subdivision. A fire on your own lot is not addressed.

Paragraph 24 - Fires
Not stated

Clotheslines

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 →
Not stated

Flags & flagpoles

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 →
Not stated

Window coverings & decorations

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 →

Where these answers come from

The documentProtective Restrictions, Covenants, Limitations and Easements for Deer Park, St. Joseph County, Indiana
Recorded asPlat of Deer Park recorded 6 August 1987
Covers lots 1 through 34 and 36 onward
Developer: Trivest, Inc., Thomas A. Selsor president, executed December 1987
How it was readThe recorded copy on file is a scan of paper with no digital text, so it was read by optical character recognition. That can misread individual words, which is why nothing on this page is presented as a direct quote.
Checked againstone recorded covenant document was on file for this neighborhood and it names Deer Park throughout; no amendment was attached to any listing
The associationNo homeowners association is named in the recorded covenants. Plans go to the Deer Park Architectural Control Committee, and enforcement is vested in each lot owner and in the developer, Trivest, Inc., and its successors - any owner can bring a civil action to enforce the covenants against a neighbour. That means there are no dues to budget for, and it also means there is no board to ask: the committee is the only approval body, so confirm with the seller who sits on it now and how to reach them before you count on getting anything approved.

Ask us about Deer Park

Tell us the question and we will get you the answer from the recorded documents.

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