What the recorded documents actually say about Fieldstone Crossing Third in Goshen — fences, sheds, pools, pets, parking and the rest — with the part of the document each answer comes from.
10 homes have sold here in the last four years, which is why this neighborhood was compiled early.
Before you rely on this page
Which lots these answers cover. Every rule below is read from one recorded instrument: the Protective Restrictions, Covenants, Limitations and Easements for Fieldstone Crossing, Third, Section Three, Instrument 2006-33210, filed with the Elkhart County Recorder on November 9, 2006. It is recorded against Section Three of the Third addition and ties itself to the plat recorded August 23, 2006 in Plat Book 31, Page 27. Fieldstone Crossing Third was platted in four sections, and this instrument is the one for Section Three.
What the file shows about the other sections of the Third addition. A second recorded declaration is here: Fieldstone Crossing, Third, Section One, Instrument 2002-44797, recorded December 4, 2002, Plat Book 28, Page 17. A 2006 pond amendment to it, Instrument 2006-30893, identifies Section One as lots 177 through 209. Reading the two declarations side by side, the Section One wording is the same on fences, pools and recreational facilities, detached buildings, leases, signs, pets, garbage and open burning with the same campfire and barbecue carve-out, satellite dishes and antennas, recreational and commercial vehicles and parking, architectural control, and landscaping and irrigation, so those answers read the same way on a Section One lot. Section One differs in three places: it has no mailbox paragraph, no tree-removal paragraph, and no pond-maintenance paragraph of its own until the 2006 amendment added one for lots 177 through 209. Its covenants ran to August 20, 2012 rather than October 12, 2016, each extending automatically in ten-year periods unless owners of at least 51 percent of the lots vote to change them. Nothing in this file is a declaration for Third, Section Two or Third, Section Four. If your lot is in one of those two sections, treat what follows as a guide and not as the filing that binds your land, and ask your title company or the Elkhart County Recorder for the declaration recorded against your own plat.
Two sources here are not section-specific, and one is not a recording at all. The Fieldstone Crossing Architectural Control Committee addendum on fences, pools, sheds and sports courts is written for the subdivision as a whole, bars chain link anywhere in Fieldstone Crossing, and is the only source for the shed size limits and the basketball court answer. Its own text dates it to December 2011 or later. It is a committee rules sheet rather than a recorded instrument, so ask the association whether the copy here is still the current one, and note that its contact block of private names, email addresses and telephone numbers is deliberately not reproduced. A 2020 association newsletter is also on file and is a board communication, not a covenant; it describes an approved two-day driveway allowance for loading and unloading a recreational vehicle or boat that the recorded covenants do not contain.
How reliable the copy on file is. All of it is scanned paper read by optical character recognition, so individual words can be misread. The instrument number and the recorder's stamp were read by eye off the page image rather than from the scanned text, which had garbled them. The same 2006 recording appears in this file twice, once scanned upside down, and the two are the same instrument rather than two separate filings.
Only two kinds of fence are permitted by the declaration, and both need written approval. A wood rail fence may be no more than four feet high, and a privacy fence may enclose the immediate patio at no more than six feet; either one has to match the architectural standards set by the style of the house and be approved in writing by the Architectural Control Committee. Perimeter fencing of any type, which the declaration says includes hedges and other growing fences, chain link and split rail, is not permitted on a lot unless the committee approves it in advance in writing. Waterfront lots get no fences at all. The committee's own addendum goes further and bars chain link of any kind anywhere in Fieldstone Crossing, requires a fence to be set back at least six inches from the property line, keeps it out of the front yard, and makes the owner maintain both sides. A fence request to the committee has to carry a plot survey by a licensed surveyor, a plot diagram with the fence location and dimensions, and a photo or link showing the style and color.
A shed is possible but it goes to the Architectural Control Committee before construction starts. The declaration puts any detached building in that lane, requires quality construction maintained in attractive and neat appearance that blends with the established home, and lets the committee require protective screening around it. The committee's addendum sets the numbers: single story only, maximum 240 square feet, height not to exceed 16 feet, and it recommends at least 10 feet from every property line. The submission needs a plot drawing locating the shed against the house, fence, lot lines and easements, an example of materials including pictures of siding, a drawing or photo of a similar shed, and a written request for approval. The addendum also notes the county requires a building permit for anything over 120 square feet.
The declaration says no recreational or commercial vehicle, naming campers, trailers, trucks, boats and snowmobiles, may be kept in open areas in the subdivision, and it reaches open areas both on and off the owner's own lot. It never defines what an open area is, and it never mentions a garage either way for these vehicles, so where the line falls on an enclosed space is genuinely unaddressed in the recorded text. A separate sentence in the same paragraph, about motor vehicles generally, requires anything parked overnight to be entirely within a garage or a driveway. The association's own newsletter to owners describes an approved two-day allowance for recreational vehicles and boats for loading, unloading and cleaning, kept in the driveway, but that is a board communication rather than a recorded covenant. Ask the association in writing what it currently enforces before you buy on the strength of it.
Above-ground pools are not permitted. 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 Architectural Control Committee, and lighting fixtures for it need the same approval. The committee's addendum asks for the pool and any pool house placed on the plat diagram with setbacks from the pool, the property lines and the septic field, and points out that no structure may sit closer than 40 feet to the rear property line or 10 feet to any other lot. It also says fences over four feet are not permitted except the six-foot patio enclosure, recommends shrubs and trees for privacy, and requires a hardened walk-on cover where no fence is used. A pool house has to match the style and color of the home in roof material, siding, support columns and kick panel.
Nothing exterior moves without the Architectural Control Committee. No building or 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 construction plans are approved. The plans have to show the floor plan, quality of construction materials, outside colors, harmony of external design with existing structures, and location against lot lines, topography and finish grade. Two complete sets are submitted; one stays with the developer and one comes back to the owner. Approval or disapproval comes in writing with reasons for a denial. Approval is also required for pavement of any kind. Removing trees is its own approval, with trees marked and the developer given notice before cutting.
An 18-inch satellite dish is allowed as long as it is not conspicuously visible from the street or from neighboring homes, so placement is the whole question. Everything else is out: no outside above-ground television, AM, FM or short-wave radio antenna of any type may be erected or maintained on a lot or on a structure. All public utility service, including cable television, has to be underground and not visible. Federal rules can limit how far a covenant may restrict certain antennas, so confirm a specific installation with the association before you order it.
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 optional. Every lot has to be maintained in good and orderly fashion with appropriate landscaping in keeping with the pattern established in the subdivision, and no lot may be overgrown or weed infested. Every lot must have an underground irrigation system capable of adequately watering all cultivated areas, kept in good working order and run often enough to keep things growing. Separately, the side, front and rear yards have to be planted with grass, sod or ground cover within 120 days after the house is finished or occupied, whichever comes first, unless the committee approves otherwise. Screen planting between the front building setback line and the front lot line may not exceed 72 inches. Tree removal needs committee approval, with trees marked in orange paint and 48 hours notice before cutting.
Mailboxes are standardized. One goes in front of each home, placed for easy mail and newspaper delivery and landscaped to look presentable. It has to be of similar design and materials to match the house, or as the developer determines, with a newspaper receptacle directly beneath it. The box or post carries brass numbers three inches tall on both sides so the address reads from either direction. This paragraph is in the Section Three declaration; the Section One declaration on file has no mailbox paragraph at all.
Dogs, cats and other household pets are permitted, provided they are not kept, bred or maintained for any commercial purpose and are not allowed to become a neighborhood nuisance or hazard. Animals, livestock and poultry of any kind are otherwise not permitted. No vicious or attack-trained dog may be kept on a lot at any time, and no pet may roam free off its owner's lot. The nuisance paragraph names barking dogs specifically as the kind of thing that counts as an annoyance. The declaration sets no numeric limit on how many pets a household may have.
Renting is gated and capped. No lease of a dwelling unit may be entered into without the prior approval of the developer, and no lease may run longer than one year. The declaration does not say what happens to that approval power once the developer has finished the subdivision, so an investor should ask the association in writing who holds it now and whether leases are being approved at all.
A basketball setup is allowed within stated limits. The declaration puts any permanent or paved recreational or athletic facility, naming basketball courts, behind written approval of the Architectural Control Committee, and lighting fixtures need that approval too. The committee's addendum gives the numbers: as of December 2011 the maximum sports court is 24 feet by 24 feet, up from 12 by 24, the backboard must be permanently cemented in the ground, and no lights are allowed. A portable hoop is not mentioned anywhere, so ask the committee how it treats one.
One sign of no more than five square feet advertising the property for sale or for rent may be displayed, and a builder may use a sign of any size to advertise the property during construction and the sales period. Nothing else may be displayed to public view on a lot under this paragraph, which on its face would reach political, contractor and security signs. The developer reserves the right to put up its own signs to promote the development. Indiana law protects some categories of sign regardless of a covenant, so confirm a specific sign with the association.
Parking is tighter here than in most neighborhoods. No motor vehicle of any kind may be parked, kept, stored or otherwise maintained on any street or on a lawn area. No vehicle may be parked on a street between 2:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. Anything parked overnight has to be entirely within a garage or on the driveway. On top of that, recreational and commercial vehicles, which the declaration lists as including trucks, may not be kept in open areas on or off the lot. The declaration also says no motorized vehicle may be driven off pavement other than lawn maintenance equipment.
Under a heading that reads Home Occupations, the declaration says a lot may not be used for any purpose other than a single-family residence, so a business run out of the house sits outside what the document permits. The only carve-out is for the developer, which may use one lot for realty sales and promotion. The document does not distinguish a quiet home office with no sign, no clients and no employees from a visible operation, and it names no approval route, so how strictly it is read in practice is a question for the association.
The documents never use the words short-term or vacation rental. A nightly or weekly stay is still a lease of the dwelling, and the lease paragraph requires the developer's prior approval before any lease is entered into and caps the term at one year, so on that reading a short-term rental needs approval first rather than being available by right. Get the association's written position before counting on this kind of 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 may be kept only in sanitary containers, and the equipment used to store or dispose of it has to be kept clean and sanitary. No lot or land may be used or maintained as a dumping ground for rubbish, grass clippings, leaves, tree limbs or compost. Trash pickup is to be completed on one specified day of each week, with the association electing the day by majority vote. Open burning of trash, waste, refuse, building materials, leaves, limbs, clippings and debris is prohibited on any lot. The declaration does not say where containers have to be stored between pickups.
Open burning is prohibited on any lot, in an incinerator, a container or otherwise, and the ban names trash, waste, refuse, building materials, leaves, tree limbs, grass clippings and debris. Written into that same paragraph is an express carve-out: a homeowner may have a campfire or barbecue pit up to three feet in diameter burning clean wood or charcoal, as long as it does not create a fire hazard or a smoke nuisance for any property. The document never uses the word grill and says nothing either way about a gas grill, which on this wording is not burning at all.
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.