What the recorded documents actually say about Fieldstone Crossing in Goshen — fences, sheds, pools, pets, parking and the rest — with the part of the document each answer comes from.
20 homes have sold here in the last four years, which is why this neighborhood was compiled early.
Two kinds of fence are written in, and both need written approval first. A wood rail fence may be no more than four feet high; a privacy fence is allowed only around an immediate patio, and no more than six feet there. Whatever goes up has to conform to the architectural standards set by the style of the house and be approved in writing by the Fieldstone Crossing Third Architectural Control Committee. On waterfront lots the covenant says no fences. Perimeter fencing of any type is barred unless approved in advance in writing, and the covenant names hedges and other growing fences, chain link and split rail. The association's written addendum goes further: no chain-link fence of any kind, the fence set back at least six inches from the property line, no fencing in the front yard, and the owner maintains both sides. The approval request goes in writing and includes a plot survey by a licensed surveyor, a diagram showing the fence location with dimensions, and a photo or link showing the style and color; workmanship has to meet the county building code standard the addendum quotes. A separate covenant bars any fence, wall, hedge or shrub on a corner lot that blocks sight lines between two and six feet above the roadway inside the triangle formed by the street lines 25 feet from the intersection, and within ten feet of where a driveway meets the street.
A detached building needs the architectural committee's written approval before construction starts, and the association's addendum puts hard numbers on it: single story only, a maximum of 240 square feet, and height not to exceed 16 feet, with a recommendation to keep it at least ten feet from all property lines. The addendum also notes the county requires a building permit for anything over 120 square feet regardless of floor construction. The submittal is a written request with a plot drawing locating the shed against the house, any fence, the lot lines and the easements, plus pictures of the siding and materials or a photo of a similar shed. The underlying covenant names detached pet shelters, play houses and pool-apparatus structures and then sweeps in any other personal property: it has to be quality construction, kept attractive and neat, and blend with the house, and the committee can require protective screening around it. A well or pump house also needs written approval. No outbuilding may be used as a residence, even temporarily.
Campers, trailers, trucks, boats and snowmobiles may not be kept in open areas anywhere in the subdivision, and the covenant reaches open areas on your own lot as well as off it. No loading or unloading window is written in as an exception. The same covenant requires anything parked overnight to be entirely inside a garage or on the driveway, so there is no open storage option on the property.
Above-ground pools are prohibited outright. An in-ground pool, and any permanent or paved recreational or athletic facility, may not be built until the plans and specifications are approved in writing by the Fieldstone Crossing Third Architectural Control Committee, and lighting fixtures for one need that same prior approval. The association's addendum says what to submit: the pool's location and orientation on the plat diagram with setback dimensions from the pool, the property lines and the septic field, noting that no structure may sit closer than 40 feet to the rear property line or nearer than ten feet to any other lot. It adds that fences over four feet are not permitted around a pool except the six-foot fencing immediately enclosing a patio, recommends shrubs and trees for privacy instead, and says that if no fence is used a hardened walk-on cover must be used. A pool house has to be in harmony with the style and color of the existing home, down to the roof material, siding, support columns and kick panel.
Everything exterior goes through the architectural committee first, and the covenant is written broadly: no building or other structure may be erected, constructed, placed, maintained or altered on a lot, and the natural topography or drainage of a lot may not be altered, until the plans are approved. Two complete sets go in showing the floor plan, the quality of construction materials, the outside colors, how the external design sits with existing homes, and the location against the lot lines, topography and finish grade; one set is kept at the developer's office and one comes back to the owner. Paving of any kind, including parking or recreational paving, also needs approval. Approval or disapproval is in writing with the reasons for a denial stated, and no change or deviation from approved plans may be made without the committee's prior written consent. The covenants add specifics a remodel can run into: chimneys must be masonry or exterior masonry veneer, driveways must be concrete at least four inches thick and twelve feet wide with no stone or cinder, each lot must carry a dusk-to-dawn post light of a type the committee approves, and no oil or fuel storage tank may be installed above ground, underground, or concealed in the house, basement or attached garage.
An 18-inch satellite dish is allowed as long as it is not conspicuously visible from the street or from neighboring homes. Outside above-ground television, AM, FM and short-wave radio antennas of any type are prohibited on lots and on structures. Utility service, including cable television, is required to be underground or out of sight, and street and lot lighting has to sit on posts with no visible lines.
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 obligations here are unusually specific. Every lot has to be kept in good and orderly fashion with landscaping in keeping with the pattern established in the subdivision, and no lot may be overgrown or weed infested. Every lot is required to have an underground irrigation system able to water all cultivated areas, kept in working order and run enough to keep things growing. Within 120 days after the house is finished or occupied, whichever comes first, the side, front and rear yards have to be planted with grass, sod or ground cover unless the committee approves otherwise, and on wooded lots the strip between the tree line and the curb has to be planted and kept neat. A vacant lot has to be kept free of rubbish and weeds with the grass at a reasonable length; if it is not, the developer may give ten days' notice and then do the work at the owner's cost. Screen planting between the building setback line and the front lot line may not exceed 72 inches high. Tree removal is separately controlled: the committee has the exclusive right to approve or disapprove any tree coming out for a house, a driveway or landscaping, and trees to be cut have to be marked with orange spray paint with written notice to the developer 48 hours ahead.
The covenants specify the mailbox. It goes in front of the home, placed for easy mail and newspaper delivery, and landscaped to look good. The box has to be of similar design and materials to match the house, or as the developer determines, with a newspaper receptacle directly beneath it. Brass numbers three inches tall go on both sides of the box or post so they can be read from either direction of traffic.
Dogs, cats and other household pets are allowed. They may not be kept, bred or maintained for any commercial purpose, and they may not become a neighborhood nuisance or hazard. No animals, livestock or poultry otherwise. Two specific limits are written in: no vicious or attack-trained dog at any time on any lot, and no pet may roam free off its owner's lot. The nuisance covenant separately names barking dogs as an example of what is not allowed.
Renting out a home is addressed directly and it is not free. No lease of a dwelling may be entered into without prior approval, and no lease may run longer than one year. The covenant puts that approval with the developer rather than with the association, which is the wording as recorded; ask the association who holds that approval today and what the process is before counting on rental income.
A permanent or paved basketball court is named directly: it may not be built or installed until the plans and specifications are approved in writing by the Fieldstone Crossing Third Architectural Control Committee, and lighting for one needs that prior approval too. The association's addendum then sets the terms, and they are specific. As of December 2011 the maximum sports court is 24 feet by 24 feet, raised from 12 feet by 24 feet. The basketball backboard has to be permanently cemented in the ground, and no lights are allowed. Note that the addendum's no-lights line is tighter than the covenant, which only required approval for lighting.
One sign, with a size limit. No sign of any kind may be displayed to public view on a lot except a single sign of not more than five square feet advertising the property for sale or rent. A builder gets a wider allowance, a sign of any size to advertise the property for sale or rent and during the construction and sales period, and the developer reserved the right to put up whatever signs it wants to promote and sell lots in the development. Nothing is written about political, security or other yard signs.
Park in the garage or on the driveway. Motor vehicles of any kind may not be parked, kept, stored or otherwise maintained on any street or lawn area, and no vehicle may sit on a street between 2:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. Anything parked overnight has to be entirely within a garage or a driveway. The driveway itself is specified: concrete at least four inches thick and at least twelve feet wide, with circular drives at least eight feet wide, and no stone or cinder driveways. Every home is required to have a full-size attached garage holding at least two cars and no more than three without the committee's written consent.
The covenant headed Home Occupations says a lot may not be used for any purpose other than a single-family residence. Nothing in the documents carves out a home office or a quiet at-home occupation, so anything beyond residential use is worth raising with the association before you count on it. Related covenants bar keeping or breeding pets for any commercial purpose and bar commercial vehicles from being kept in the open anywhere in the subdivision, and the sign rule would not allow a business sign.
The documents never use the words short-term, vacation or nightly rental. What they do say is that no lease of a dwelling may be entered into without prior approval, and no lease may run longer than a year, so a short stay is a lease that still needs that approval. There is no stated minimum number of nights. Ask the association how it applies that clause before counting on short-term rental income.
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 other waste have to be kept in sanitary containers, and no lot or land may be used as a dumping ground for rubbish, grass clippings, leaves, tree limbs or compost. Storage and disposal equipment has to be kept clean and sanitary. Open burning is prohibited outright, in incinerators, in containers or any other way, and the covenant lists trash, waste, refuse, building materials, leaves, tree limbs, grass clippings and debris. Collection happens on one specified day each week, which the association picks by majority vote. Debris left anywhere in the subdivision may be cleaned up by the developer at the offender's expense, and if loose debris from construction becomes a general nuisance the association's board can have it cleaned up at the lot owner's cost.
The open-burning ban has a written exception for a fire pit or barbecue pit. A homeowner may have one up to three feet in diameter, burning clean wood or charcoal, as long as it does not present a fire hazard or a smoke nuisance to any property. Nothing is written about gas or charcoal grills as such, and nothing sets how close to the house or a lot line a pit may sit.
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.