What the recorded documents actually say about Deer Run at Topsfield in South Bend — fences, sheds, pools, pets, parking and the rest — with the part of the document each answer comes from.
3 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 Amended and Restated Declaration of Covenants and Restrictions of Deer Run at Topsfield, filed with the St. Joseph County Recorder on March 10, 2014 as instrument 1405321. That document says on its face that it governs the entire Deer Run at Topsfield subdivision, Lots 1 through 49, and that on the day it was recorded the two original declarations it replaced stopped being in effect. Those were the 1992 Section One declaration covering Lots 10 through 20 and Lots 37 through 42, and the 1993 Section Two declaration covering Lots 1 through 9, 21 through 36, 43 through 49 and Lot 37-A, along with their amendments.
Some lots carry a second layer on top of that. Lot 1, Lots 29 through 36, Lot 37-A and Lots 37 through 49 are the lake, retention pond and stream lots, and they are also bound by the Amended and Restated Additional Protective Restrictions, Covenants, Limitations and Easements of Deer Run at Topsfield Lakes Homeowners Association, recorded the same day as instrument 1405322. Those add rules on piers, docks and sea walls, on planting near the water and on the shoreline, on what may be done on the lake itself, and a second annual assessment. Where an answer on this page comes from that second document, it says so.
The recorded copies on file are scans of paper with no digital text, so they were read by optical character recognition, which can misread individual words. The paragraphs behind the answers below were also checked against the page images by eye.
Two things this page cannot tell you. A Code of By-Laws adopted by the board in November 2013 also applies and is not a recorded document, and the board may adopt rules and regulations that appear in neither declaration. And the declarations are silent on leasing, short-term rentals, solar panels, mailboxes, basketball goals, clotheslines, flags and window coverings, which means the recorded documents do not address them, not that the association has no position on them. For current dues, current rules, and anything recorded after March 2014, ask the association and have your title company run the chain of title on the specific lot.
Fences must be approved in writing by the Architectural Control Committee before construction. The only perimeter fencing permitted is a split rail fence two rails high and no more than four feet high. A privacy fence is permitted only around an immediate patio, no more than six feet, and it must conform to the architectural standards set by the style of the home. The Committee may approve a written variance from the fence requirement. Separately, on a corner lot no fence, wall, hedge or shrub planting may sit between two and six feet above the roadway inside the triangle formed by the street lines and a line joining them 25 feet from the intersection.
A detached shed, storage structure or pet shelter is permitted, but the plan must go to the Architectural Control Committee for approval before construction begins. It has to be of quality construction, kept in attractive and neat appearance, and blend with the established residence, and the Committee may require protective screening around it. A barn, outbuilding, shack, tent or other structure of a temporary character may not be moved onto or built on a lot and used as a residence. On the lake lots, which are Lot 1, Lots 29 through 36, Lot 37-A and Lots 37 through 49, a second recorded document adds that no such detached storage or pet shelter structure or boathouse may stand within 30 feet of the lake, retention pond or stream.
Mobile homes, house trailers, boats, boat trailers, motor homes, camping trailers, recreational vehicles and their trailers may not be parked on any lot for longer than 48 hours. The same 48-hour limit applies to snowmobiles, motorcycles, dune buggies and all-terrain vehicles, including four-wheelers, tractors and mopeds. What the document sets is a time limit on parking on the lot. It does not define where on the lot, and it says nothing either way about one of these kept inside a closed garage, so that situation is genuinely unaddressed. On the lake lots there is a separate recorded rule about using the water itself: swimming, boating, sailboats under 15 feet, wind surfing boards, canoes, row boats, paddle boats and boats driven by electric motors capable of no more than five miles an hour are the permitted uses, boats must be owned by a lake lot owner and registered with the association, and inboard and outboard combustion motors are not permitted.
Above ground pools are not permitted. An in-ground swimming pool, and a tennis court, may be built only after prior written approval from the Architectural Control Committee, and must have appropriate screening and fencing.
Prior approval from the Architectural Control Committee is required for improvements, alterations, repairs, a change of colors, excavations, changes in grade, or any other work that alters the exterior of a lot, the dwelling or other improvements from the state they were in when the lot was first sold by the developer. No building, fence, wall or other structure may be started, erected, maintained, improved or altered without that written approval, though the requirement does not apply to the original construction of a home. The Committee has 60 days from receiving a complete written application; if it does not approve, modify or disapprove in writing within that time, approval is deemed denied. A Committee decision may be appealed to the Board of Directors, which can reverse or modify it on a two-thirds vote of the directors then serving. Each lot must also have a dusk-to-dawn electric or gas post light of a type the Committee approves, set in front of the front building setback line.
The covenants bar any outside above-ground television, AM, FM or shortwave radio antenna of any type, and they name satellite dish antennae and earth receiving stations of any type as included in that. The paragraph is headed Utilities, Satellite Dishes, Signal Towers and Television Antennas. It sets no size exception, no screening option and no approval path, and it also requires all utility service, including cable television, to run underground and stay out of sight. That is what the recorded document says; what the association actually enforces today is worth asking about before assuming it either way.
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 side, front and rear yards of each homesite must be planted with grass seed, sod or ground cover within 120 days after the home is completed or occupied, whichever comes first, unless the Architectural Control Committee approves something else. Changes in grade, and work that alters the exterior of a lot, need Committee approval. On a corner lot, no hedge or shrub planting may obstruct sight lines between two and six feet above the roadway inside the 25-foot triangle at the intersection, and a tree there must have its foliage line kept high enough not to block those sight lines. Protective screening areas marked on the plat as Non-Access Easement must be planted and maintained by the lot owners at their own expense. On the lake lots, a second recorded document adds that no screen planting over 36 inches high is permitted within 30 feet of the lake, retention pond or stream, no screen plantings at all are permitted on a shoreline area, and the shoreline area must be planted with grass seed, sod or ground cover only.
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 →Dogs, cats and other household pets may be kept, provided they are not kept, bred or maintained for any commercial purpose and are not permitted to become a neighborhood nuisance or hazard. No other animals, livestock or poultry of any kind may be raised, bred or kept. A dog kennel or doghouse may not be erected without the consent of the Architectural Control Committee, and a detached pet shelter structure needs Committee approval before construction as well. The document sets no limit on the number of pets and no breed or weight limit.
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 →One sign of no more than five square feet advertising the property for sale is the only sign the document allows in public view on a homesite. No other exception is named, so political, contractor, security and builder signs are not carved out anywhere in the recorded text.
Every home must have a full-sized attached garage able to hold at least two cars and no more than four, and it must be a side-load garage unless the Architectural Control Committee unanimously approves an exception in writing. Recreational vehicles, boats, trailers, motor homes, snowmobiles, motorcycles, dune buggies, four-wheelers, tractors and mopeds may not be parked on a lot longer than 48 hours. A lot may not be used for storage of old lumber, cars, materials or debris. Driveways must be at least 12 feet wide and built of asphalt, brick or concrete, with asphalt at least three inches thick and concrete at least four inches thick; stone and cinder driveways are not permitted, and a circular drive in front may be a minimum of ten feet wide. The document sets no limit on how many ordinary cars a household may have and says nothing about parking on the street.
A home occupation may be permitted, but only if it is conducted entirely inside the dwelling and only a member of the immediate family living there takes part in it, and it stays clearly incidental and secondary to the home's use as a residence. Four conditions apply: no sign or display indicating from the outside that the building is used for anything but a dwelling, no commodity sold on the premises, nobody employed other than an immediate family member living there, and no mechanical or electrical equipment used. The document states that 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 is not a home occupation under this covenant.
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, garbage and all other waste must be kept on the lot only in sanitary containers, and incinerators or other equipment for storing or disposing of it must be kept clean, sanitary and indoors. Containers may be set outside for pickup no earlier than 24 hours before the expected pickup time. No homesite may be used or maintained as a dumping ground for rubbish. On the lake lots, a second recorded document adds that no shoreline area may be used as a dumping ground or incinerator area for leaves, grass clippings, trash or other rubbish, and none of that may be dumped into the lake, retention pond or stream.
The only fires clause in these documents bans fires burning on a street or roadway in the subdivision. On the face of that wording it does not reach a contained cooking fire on a lot, and the documents never name grills, barbecues or fire pits either way. On the lake lots, a second recorded document bars using a shoreline area as an incinerator area for leaves, grass clippings, trash or other rubbish. The association can also adopt rules that are not in the recorded documents, so it is worth asking what it enforces before putting in anything permanent.
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.