What the recorded documents actually say about Fountain Blue in Granger — 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 Protective Restrictions, Covenants, Limitations and Easements for Fountain Blue Subdivision in St. Joseph County, Indiana, recorded with the St. Joseph County Recorder on April 4, 2002 as instrument 0219393 and executed by the developer, Fountain Blue Development Corp. It is six pages and twenty-four numbered paragraphs, and it is complete.
Two other recorded documents are on file with it and both were read. The first is an Affidavit to Amend Building Set Back Requirements by Developers, recorded August 13, 2004 as instrument 0440274, which changes the setback and nothing else: the lots are now subject only to the twenty-five foot building setback line, and the discretionary thirty-five foot setback shown on the plat is declared no longer in force. The second is the recorded plat of Fountain Blue Subdivision itself, recorded May 18, 1989 as document number 8912561, which carries the building lines, the easement widths and a minimum lot area of fifteen thousand square feet. Neither one changes any of the answers below; the setback amendment is the only amendment, and it was applied.
Between them these documents cover the whole subdivision: twenty-two lots numbered one through twenty-two, on about ten acres in Harris Township. Confirm with the title company which recorded documents run with the specific lot you are buying.
The most important thing on this page is what is absent. There is no homeowners association. These documents create none, and they mention no dues, no assessments, no common areas and no lien. The restrictions run with the land and any lot owner may enforce them in court, as may the developer. That means no annual bill, and it also means no office to call and no process short of a lawsuit when something is not being followed. The architectural committee is a related question worth raising: the document says its authority expires twelve years after the plat was recorded, and the plat was recorded in 1989, so ask the title company or a long-time neighbor whether anyone is actually approving plans today.
Several everyday questions are not addressed anywhere in these documents: solar panels, mailboxes, renting or leasing a home, short-term letting, basketball goals, repairing a vehicle, grilling or fires of any kind, clotheslines, flags and window treatments. Silence is not permission and it is not a rule. It means the recorded documents say nothing, so there is no written standard either way.
The recorded copies are scans of paper with no digital text, so they were read by software that can misread individual words. Two separate scans of the 2002 covenants are on file and both were used, and every answer below was also read by eye off the scanned page images of the clearer one. Each answer quotes the document's own wording so you can weigh it yourself. Confirm the complete set of recorded documents for your own address through the title company before you rely on any of this.
The only fencing language in the document sits inside the paragraph about temporary structures and pools, and it says three things. Fencing may be rod iron, chain link or plastic. It may not be higher than six feet. And it can only be placed in the back yard of the residence. Any variance has to be approved in writing by the developer. Because those sentences follow the requirement that an in-ground pool be fenced, the document does not make it explicit whether the material list binds a fence that has nothing to do with a pool, while the six-foot limit and the back-yard-only limit are written as general sentences. A wood or vinyl privacy fence is not in the list of named materials, so that is worth clearing in writing before you order one.
A detached storage building is contemplated and allowed. The conditions are about quality and appearance rather than size: it has to be of quality construction, kept in attractive and neat appearance, and blend with the established home, and the developer may require protective screening around it. No dimension, height, material or setback is specified, and this paragraph does not itself require written approval, although the architectural committee paragraph gives the committee authority over plans for all structures to be erected in the subdivision. The same paragraph separately bars a modular home, manufactured home, pre-built home, basement, tent, shack, garage, barn, outbuilding or temporary structure from being moved onto or built on a lot or used as a residence at any time, which is about living in it rather than storing things in it.
This clause names a permitted place, so it is not a flat ban. Campers, recreational vehicles, commercial vehicles, trailers, boats and junk cars may not be kept outside of the residence, and the document then says where they may be: within the structure, or outside the development. In plain terms, inside a building is the permitted spot on your own lot, and anywhere out in the open is not. The document does not define structure, and it does not say whether the garage a house is required to have counts, so if you are buying with a camper or a boat, get that confirmed in writing. There is no stated loading or unloading window and no overnight or short-stay allowance.
An above-ground pool is not permitted. An in-ground pool is permitted and has to be fenced, with the fencing being rod iron, chain link or plastic and no higher than six feet, and fencing may only go in the back yard. Any variance from that has to be approved in writing by the developer. The document sets no setback, no depth rule and no approval requirement for the pool itself beyond the architectural committee's general authority over structures.
Plans and specifications for a residential dwelling have to be approved in writing by the Fountain Blue Architectural Control Committee before building, and the committee is given authority to approve all plans and specifications for all structures to be erected in the subdivision, with no construction to start until it has issued written approval. The committee is three people appointed by the developer, and its decision is stated to be entirely within its discretion. One thing a buyer should know: the document says that authority expires twelve years after the plat is recorded, and the plat was recorded in 1989, so whether the committee still has standing authority is a question worth putting to the developer or a long-time neighbor rather than one this document settles. Separate paragraphs fix some of the look of the house regardless: the front exterior has to be brick, natural stone or stucco, driveways have to be concrete, complete to the curb and at least twelve feet wide with circular drives at least nine feet, utility lines run underground, and every residence has to have at least one front-yard light running dusk to dawn on an electric eye or time clock.
A satellite dish is allowed on the dwelling itself if it is connected to the house and is no more than three feet in diameter. Mounting an antenna or a dish on the ground, on the lot the house sits on or on an adjacent lot the same owner happens to own, is not permitted. Note how the exception is worded: it speaks about a dish meeting those two conditions, so whether an antenna that is not a dish has any permitted route on the dwelling is not spelled out. Three feet is the number to measure against before you order equipment.
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 →There is one planting requirement and it is a deadline rather than a design standard. The sides and front yard of each lot have to be planted with grass seed or with sod within one hundred twenty days after the house is completed or occupied, whichever comes first. The rear yard is not named in that sentence. Nothing in the document protects trees, limits what you may plant, or requires approval for a garden bed or a planting plan.
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 →Household dogs, cats and other household pets are allowed. Livestock and poultry of any kind may not be raised, bred or kept on a lot. Three conditions apply to the pets that are allowed: they may not be kept, bred or maintained for any commercial purpose, they may not be allowed to become a neighborhood nuisance or hazard, and they are not allowed to roam freely through the subdivision. No number limit, size limit or breed restriction appears anywhere in the document.
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 is allowed on a lot: a sign of not more than five square feet advertising the property for sale. Everything else displayed to public view is covered by the opening words, which bar a sign of any kind. The developer separately reserved the right to put up its own signs to promote and sell lots. Five square feet is small, so measure before you order a yard sign, and note that the document gives no approval route for anything outside that one exception. A separate paragraph also bars any sign or display indicating from the outside that the house is being used for anything other than a dwelling.
Read what this covers before you rely on it. The document says nothing about ordinary passenger cars, about parking on the street, or about guests. What it does govern is a named list: campers, recreational vehicles, commercial vehicles, trailers, boats and junk cars may not be kept outside of the residence, and have to be kept within the structure or outside the development. So a work van, a trailer or a car that no longer runs is the case this rule reaches, and a daily driver in the driveway is not addressed either way. Separately, driveways have to be concrete, run complete to the curb and be at least twelve feet wide, and every house has to have an attached garage able to hold at least two but not more than three cars.
A home occupation is permitted. The document's definition is brief: the work is carried on within the residence dwelling and participated in solely by a member of the immediate family living there. One condition is spelled out, and it is about what the street sees. No sign or display may indicate from the exterior that the building is being used in whole or in part for anything other than a dwelling. Unlike some neighborhoods nearby, this document names no banned trades, sets no limit on employees or equipment, and says nothing about customer traffic or deliveries, so the written test is the family-only, inside-the-house, nothing-visible one.
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 other waste have to be kept in sanitary containers in an enclosure, and a lot may not be used or maintained as a dumping ground for rubbish. The words in an enclosure are the part worth noticing: this document asks for more than a lidded bin, though it does not say what counts as an enclosure, where it has to sit, or what it has to be made of. There is no collection day, no screening specification and no rule about when containers may go to the curb.
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 →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.