What the recorded documents actually say about Evergreen Meadows in Granger — fences, sheds, pools, pets, parking and the rest — with the part of the document each answer comes from.
4 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 Protective Restrictions, Covenants and Limitations for Evergreen Meadows Lots 2-45, recorded with the St. Joseph County Recorder on April 22, 2010 as instrument 1010627 by Evergreen Meadows Homeowners Association, Inc. That is the newest recorded instrument on file for this neighborhood and it restates the covenants in full, so it is the one that governs. Nothing newer was found.
It governs Lots 2 through 45 in Evergreen Meadows, in Harris Township, St. Joseph County. Note the starting number: the earlier recorded covenants covered Lots 1 through 45, and the 2010 restatement describes itself as applying to Lots 2 through 45. If the home you are looking at is Lot 1, do not assume these answers describe it; ask your title company which recorded restrictions run with that particular lot.
Three earlier recorded instruments were also read and are superseded by the 2010 restatement. The original covenants were recorded October 10, 1991 as instrument 9129129. A full restatement covering both plat sections, Lots 1 through 45, was recorded December 15, 1992 as instrument 9246454. A one-page amendment recorded in December 1995 as instrument 9543451 added a front setback exception for Lot 45 only; the 2010 restatement does not carry that exception forward, which is worth confirming if you are buying Lot 45.
One change between the old covenants and the current ones is easy to get wrong and matters to buyers. The earlier versions banned exterior antennas and dishes outright. The 2010 restatement keeps the ban on rooftop and tower antennas but expressly excludes satellite dishes of one meter, or 39.37 inches, or less in diameter. The answers on this page reflect the 2010 text. Likewise, the paragraph that used to be headed Solar Panels was replaced by a broader one covering all external structures, so solar is no longer named anywhere in the covenants.
The recorded copy on file is a scan of paper with no digital text, so it was read by character recognition and then checked against the scanned page images for the clauses that carry the answers. The restrictions run from paragraph 1 to paragraph 33 with no gaps, and the county's own recording stamp says the instrument is eight pages, which matches what was read, so nothing is missing from what is published here.
Two things are deliberately not in the recorded document and are worth asking the association for directly: the dues amount actually being charged now, since the recorded $100 per lot per year ceiling dates from 2010 and the members are allowed to raise it by majority vote, and any rules the board has adopted separately from the recorded covenants. Several everyday questions, including renting your home out, short-term letting, mailboxes, basketball goals, clotheslines, flags and window treatments, are not addressed by these covenants at all.
Fences need written approval from the Architectural Control Committee, which reviews quality and kind of materials, height, location and views. No fence may sit closer to a street than the rear of the house. Perimeter fencing is capped at four feet. A privacy fence around an immediate patio may go to six feet. Split rail, coated mesh, vinyl mesh, wood and other materials may all be used with the committee's written approval. A swimming pool fence has to meet St. Joseph County requirements and its design also has to be approved by the committee.
A detached storage building or pet shelter is allowed, but the plans have to be presented to the Architectural Control Committee and approved in writing before anything is built or placed. The structure must be of quality construction, kept in attractive and neat appearance, and blend with the established home. The committee may also require protective screening around it. Separately, no outbuilding, barn, shack, tent or temporary structure may be used as a residence at any time.
A camper, boat, boat trailer, motor home, camping trailer, recreational vehicle, mobile home, house trailer or larger commercial truck or trailer may not be parked on a lot for longer than seventy-two hours. Where a boat, motor home, trailer or other recreational vehicle is stored on the lot, it may not sit closer to the front lot line than the minimum building setback line shown on the recorded plat. Nothing may be parked on a subdivision street for more than seven consecutive days. The document does not say whether keeping one inside a closed garage changes the seventy-two hour limit, so that is worth asking the board before you buy on the strength of it.
A pool or tennis court may not be erected, built or installed until the plans and specifications have been approved in writing by the association board. A swimming pool fence must also meet St. Joseph County requirements, with the design approved by the Architectural Control Committee.
Written approval from the Architectural Control Committee is required before a building or other structure is erected, constructed, placed, maintained or altered, and before the natural topography or drainage of a lot is changed. Plans have to show the floor plan, quality of construction, materials, outside colors, how the design sits with existing structures, and location against lot lines, topography and finish grade elevations. Two complete sets go in; one is kept by the association and one comes back to the owner or builder. The committee is three people, the board president, secretary and treasurer. If it does not disapprove within thirty days of submission, formal approval is not required. Separately, the board's written approval of installation and location is required for all external structures before construction.
A satellite dish one meter, or 39.37 inches, or less in diameter is expressly excluded from the antenna ban, so a standard residential dish is the size the document carves out. Exposed or exterior radio or television transmission or receiving antennas on rooftops or towers are prohibited. Worth knowing: the earlier recorded versions of these covenants banned dishes along with antennas, and the 2010 amendment is what added the one meter exclusion.
The covenants in force do not name solar panels. They do require the association board's written approval of the installation and location of all external structures before construction, which is the clause a solar array would most likely be reviewed under. That paragraph is the direct replacement for one headed Solar Panels in the earlier recorded version of these covenants, which required the developer's written approval of solar panel installation and location. Take plans to the board before ordering.
Side and front yards have to be planted with sod or ground cover within one hundred twenty days after the house is complete or occupied, whichever is earlier; the rear yard may be seeded, and the Architectural Control Committee may approve something different. No screen planting over thirty-six inches high is permitted between the building setback line and the front lot line. In the protective screening areas marked on the plat, plantings have to be retained and maintained at the owner's expense. Near corners and driveways, no fence, wall, hedge or shrub planting may obstruct sight lines between two and six feet above the roadway, and tree foliage has to be kept high enough not to block them.
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 →Domesticated dogs, cats and other ordinary household pets are allowed in reasonable numbers. No other animals, birds or fowl may be kept, and no animal may be kept or bred for any commercial purpose. A dog may not run at large unless it is contained in a permitted dog run or fenced yard, or held by collar and leash no longer than eight feet. Cats may not be allowed to run at large off the owner's own lot. No savage or dangerous animal may be kept. Pets are to be walked on streets or sidewalks rather than near buildings, shrubbery and private lawns, and the owner is required to pick up after them. A dog that barks and can be heard on a frequent or continuing basis may not be kept. The association may require pets to be registered, may adopt further reasonable rules about animals, and may remove an animal it determines is in violation.
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 not more than five square feet advertising the property for sale is permitted. Otherwise no sign of any kind may be displayed to public view on a lot or on association property at the subdivision entrance. Signs for special events such as a garage sale, graduation or birthday party are an exception and may remain in place no more than seven days total.
No vehicle, boat or structure of any kind may be parked on a subdivision street for longer than seven consecutive days. On a lot, a mobile home, house trailer, boat, boat trailer, motor home, camping trailer, recreational vehicle or larger commercial truck or trailer may not be parked for longer than seventy-two hours. A vehicle on blocks or without a current license plate may not be stored outside an enclosed garage at any time. Driveways have to be concrete for their full length and width, at least twelve feet wide and four inches thick, with circular drives at least eight feet wide. Every home is required to have a full-size attached garage holding at least two cars and no more than three.
A home occupation is allowed inside the dwelling, carried on solely by a member of the immediate family living there, and only where it is clearly incidental and secondary to use as a home and does not change the character of the property. Four conditions all have to hold: no sign or display indicating from the exterior that the building is used for anything other than a dwelling; no commodity sold on the premises; nobody employed other than an immediate family member residing there; and no mechanical or electrical equipment used. The covenants name businesses that can never qualify as a home occupation: 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. Lots are otherwise limited to use as a private single-family residence.
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 never use the words repair, dismantle or service. What they do say is that a vehicle on blocks, or one without a current license plate, may not be stored outside an enclosed garage on any lot at any time. A car on blocks is mid-repair, so work that leaves a vehicle in that state belongs inside a garage rather than in the driveway. Routine work on a running, licensed car is not addressed either way.
Trash, garbage and other waste have to be kept in sanitary containers, and all equipment for storing or disposing of it has to be kept in a clean and sanitary condition. No lot may be used or maintained as a dumping ground for rubbish. On screening the cans, the covenants say containers should be kept from public view rather than shall, so it reads as an expectation rather than a hard requirement. The association is also given power to enforce against accumulations of rubbish, weeds or trash.
The covenants never mention grills, barbecues or cooking fires either way. The only fire restriction bars a fire from burning upon any street or roadway in the subdivision, which on its face does not reach a contained grill on your own lot, and it adds that St. Joseph County burning laws have to be followed. Because the document is silent on grills specifically, confirm with the board if you plan anything beyond ordinary cooking.
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.