What the recorded documents actually say about Garden Place in South Bend — fences, sheds, pools, pets, parking and the rest — with the part of the document each answer comes from.
11 homes have sold here in the last four years, which is why this neighborhood was compiled early.
Before you rely on this page
THE MLS NAME AND THE ASSOCIATION'S NAME ARE DIFFERENT, AND BOTH ARE CORRECT. The recorded plat is Garden Place and that is how homes here are sold; the association renamed itself Tealwood Place Homeowners Association, Inc. when it took over from the developer, Garden Place, LLC. Paperwork, notices and assessments will come from Tealwood Place. This is a one-storey subdivision by covenant - no home here may exceed one storey - so a buyer looking for a two-storey house is looking in the wrong place.
No perimeter fencing of any type, and the ban names hedges and other fences made of plants or bushes alongside chain link, split rail and privacy fencing. An exception takes the UNANIMOUS written consent of the Architectural Control Committee. Three things are carved out: a privacy fence up to six feet may be built around a patio adjacent to the house with ACC approval; a dog run may be built with prior ACC approval, but it must be PVC, fitted tight to the rear of the house, no more than twelve feet out from the back wall, no wider than the house and no more than four feet high; and invisible electronic pet fences are expressly permitted.
No trailer, modular home, manufactured home, prebuilt home, camper, tent, shack, DETACHED GARAGE, barn, MINI-BARN, tree house or any structure of a temporary character may be moved onto, assembled or built on a lot, or used anywhere in the property, temporarily or permanently. Storage containers are time-limited rather than banned: a POD, mini-dumpster, insta-bin or a regular roll-off dumpster may sit on a lot for no more than SEVEN consecutive days without prior ACC approval, and storage bins may not be used for long-term storage at all.
Anything the State of Indiana labels or classifies as a commercial vehicle must be parked inside an enclosed garage, and the list is long: semi-tractors and trailers, buses, mobile homes, recreational vehicles, trailers with or without wheels, campers, camper trailers, snowmobiles, boats, other watercraft and boat trailers. None may be parked on the street or on any driveway. Two narrow exceptions: a VISITOR's RV may be parked on the street for no more than 48 consecutive hours, and no more than three occasions in a calendar year; and an RV, boat or similar on a trailer may sit in your own driveway while loading or unloading, for no more than TWELVE hours.
No pools of any kind - in-ground or above-ground - and no tennis or basketball courts may be built on any lot. The retention pond is not a swimming alternative either: no swimming, boating, kayaking, ice skating or ice fishing is allowed on it, and no dock, pier or wall may be extended into it.
No home may be built, placed or altered, and no lot's landscaping or drainage changed, until the Architectural Control Committee has approved the construction plans in writing. Plans must show the floor plan, quality of construction, materials, the outside colours, how the design sits with the houses already there, the location against lot lines, topography and finish grade, and all the landscaping detail; the ACC keeps the set, and no change to an approved plan may be made without its further written consent. It may require a survey at the owner's expense where lot lines or easements are in question, and it must rule within FORTY-FIVE days. Separately, no owner may repaint, redecorate or change the look of the exterior - roof colour, shingle type, paint, siding or shutter colour are named - away from what has been there since the house was built, and no addition, sidewalk or driveway change may happen without written ACC approval first. Awnings and patio covers need it too. Driveways must be concrete, at least twelve feet wide; stone, cinder, paver AND asphalt drives are all prohibited.
One direct broadcast satellite dish of no more than one meter is allowed per lot, along with an LMDS or MMDS antenna or one for television broadcast service. It has to meet all safety codes, be sited so it is not a nuisance to a neighbour, and be put somewhere aesthetically pleasing. Beyond that, no outside or above-ground television, AM, FM or short-wave radio antenna of any type may be erected. No telecommunication towers or accessory equipment may be installed on any lot or home.
Solar panels ARE allowed here, which is unusual for a covenant of this vintage and is written into it directly: an owner may install them in or on the home provided plans go to the Architectural Control Committee and are approved before installation. They must be sited, so far as possible, somewhere aesthetically pleasing and blending with the architecture of the house, and installed to the applicable building and zoning rules. Note the opposite answer for wind: no windmills, wind energy conversion devices or wind energy facilities may be installed on any lot or home.
Landscaping is part of what the Architectural Control Committee approves - the plans submitted must include all the landscaping detail, and no lot's landscaping or drainage may be altered without approval. New construction must have the side, front and rear yards seeded or sodded within a hundred and twenty days of completion or occupancy, whichever comes first. The grading of any lot used as a drainage swale may not be changed if it would alter the flow of storm water. Exterior decorative objects - the declaration names bird houses, bird baths, driftwood, weather vanes, sculptures and fountains - must all sit INSIDE enclosed landscaped areas, and be appropriate in size, quantity, colour and location.
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 usual household pets are allowed, but the word the covenant uses is CONTAINED, and it defines it: the pet is housed INDOORS, is not allowed onto another owner's lot, and is on a leash or inside an approved fence whenever it is outside. No animal shelters may be placed on the exterior of a home. No pet may be kept, bred or maintained for a commercial purpose. The owner cleans up and properly disposes of waste anywhere on the property, repairs any damage the pet causes, and is responsible for any injury it causes.
No home may be leased for less than SIX MONTHS unless the Board of Directors approves it in writing. An owner who does not live in the house must give the Board the name of the tenant and of anyone else living there. Tenants are bound by the covenants and by-laws, and the owner has to give them copies before the lease starts. Leasing the house does not relieve the owner of anything - assessments and every other charge stay the owner's responsibility throughout.
A basketball COURT is banned outright. A basketball hoop is prohibited WITHOUT ACC approval - and it sits on a list with soccer goals, trampolines, hot tubs, spas, swing sets and sandboxes, all of which need approval. A canopy tent may go up temporarily but may not stay on a lot more than three consecutive days in a calendar year.
Signs here are capped by size, and the cap is small. No sign may be placed on a lot except one advertising it for sale, or one required by law, and those may be no more than TWO FEET BY TWO FEET. Security signs, lawn application signs and electric fence signs are allowed but may be no more than one foot by one foot. Political candidate signs may be two feet by two feet, may go up no earlier than thirty days before the election, must come down within five days after it, and no more than THREE may be displayed at once. A special-event sign needs the ACC's written approval. A violation has to be fixed immediately on notice.
No vehicle or trailer of any kind may be parked for any length of time on the grass, the yard or any other unpaved part of the property. Stored vehicles, and any vehicle that is inoperable or without a current licence, are not permitted anywhere except inside an enclosed garage. Commercial vehicles and trucks may not be parked on the property except while making a delivery or pickup - though a small truck or van an owner uses in their own business may sit in that owner's driveway. Every home has an attached garage for at least two cars and no more than three.
A home occupation IS allowed, on tight terms: only a member of the immediate family living in the house may be involved, it must be carried on entirely inside the house, and it must be clearly incidental to living there without changing the home's character. No sign or display may show it, no commodity may be sold on the property, and it may not involve keeping inventory on site, making products, or sending employees out from the house. Several are excluded by name: a barber shop, styling salon, MASSAGE PARLOR, IN-HOME DAY CARE, BED AND BREAKFAST, tea room, fortune-telling parlor, animal hospital, or any animal care such as dog grooming. Garage sales are capped too - no more than TWO a year, none longer than three consecutive days, and repeatedly reselling goods that way may be treated as an unlawful home occupation.
No home may be leased for less than six months without the Board's written approval, and a bed and breakfast is separately excluded from the home occupations the covenant permits.
Any repairing, refurbishing, reconditioning or rebuilding of a vehicle of any kind must take place ENTIRELY INSIDE A GARAGE.
No lot may be used as a dumping ground. Trash, garbage, refuse, garden and yard waste are kept only in sanitary containers, MAY NOT BE STORED IN FRONT OF THE HOUSE, and must be properly disposed of promptly.
No OPEN fires are allowed on any lot, and leaf burning and all other burning is expressly prohibited on any street or roadway in the property. No oil or fuel storage tank may be kept anywhere on a lot, and the covenant is unusual in barring it even where it would be concealed inside the house, the basement or the attached garage.
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 →Nothing may go in a window that is mechanical: window-mounted fans and portable fans set on window sills are prohibited, and no air conditioner or evaporative cooler may be installed in a window or on a wall where it would be visible from any street - the unit goes on the ground, at the rear or the side of the house. Holiday decorations and lighting must come off the house, the shrubs and the trees within THIRTY days of the holiday, unless the weather makes that unsafe.
Tell us the question and we will get you the answer from the recorded documents.