What the recorded documents actually say about Golden Pond in Elkhart — fences, sheds, pools, pets, parking and the rest — with the part of the document each answer comes from.
9 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 two instruments actually recorded against Golden Pond with the Elkhart County Recorder. The first is the Protective Restrictions, Covenants, Limitations and Easements for Golden Pond, Section One, executed in June 2003 by Pheasant Ridge Development Co., Inc. and recorded June 11, 2003 as instrument 2003-24043, over the Section One plat at Plat Book 28, Page 48. The second is the matching declaration for Golden Pond, Section Two, executed in June 2004 by the same developer and recorded as instrument 2004-20126, over the Section Two plat at Plat Book 29, Page 43. These are two separate recordings covering different groups of lots, not an original and an amendment, and their wording is nearly identical. Where they differ on something that would matter to a buyer, the answer below says which one it is quoting.
There is a third document in circulation and you should know about it before you rely on anything here. The association's own packet, handed out with at least one listing, contains a 2019 restatement that says on its face it covers Sections 1, 2 and 3 and supersedes all previous covenants for every Golden Pond section. The copy on file is unsigned. The execution date, the signature line for the association president and the whole notary block are blank, and it carries no recorder stamp and no instrument number. By its own terms an amendment takes effect only when it is signed and recorded, so this copy does not establish that the restatement was ever adopted. The answers below therefore come from the recorded 2003 and 2004 documents, and each answer names the places where the 2019 version would change the result. Copies of the recorded 2003 document were still being handed out in listing packets as recently as 2024, which is some evidence the older text is still the operative one, but it settles nothing.
Golden Pond Section Three is a gap. The 2019 restatement names it and gives its plat as Book 31, Page 10, but no recorded declaration for Section Three is in this file and none was read. If the home you are looking at is in Section Three, treat this page as background only.
Before you rely on any of it, have the title company or the Elkhart County Recorder pull everything recorded against the specific lot, and ask the association directly for the current rules and the current dues figure. The dollar caps in these documents were written in 2003 and 2004 and the documents allow them to be raised by a recorded amendment.
One note on how this page was built, because it nearly went wrong. The automatic extract this page could have been written from is incomplete: it holds 170,378 characters where the complete documents on file run to 259,540, it is missing two of the six scans outright, and it cuts roughly two fifths out of the middle of the 2019 restatement with 84 silent gap marks. Nothing on this page came from that extract. All six scans and both digital copies were read end to end from the complete files, and every sentence quoted here was pulled from those.
Fencing is allowed but not freely. Every fence has to conform to the architectural standards set by the style of the home it sits behind, and it has to be approved in writing by the Architectural Control Committee before it goes up. Both recorded documents use the same sentence and neither of them gives a height, a material, a setback or a permitted style, so the standard is whatever the committee applies. A separate paragraph does set one hard limit: on a corner lot, no fence, wall, hedge or shrub may block the sight line between two and six feet above the road inside the triangle formed by the two street lines and a line joining them 25 feet from the intersection, and the same applies within 10 feet of where a street line meets a driveway. Get the written approval before you buy materials.
A shed or other detached building is allowed with approval, and in Section Two it is also capped in size. Any detached pet shelter, playhouse, play structure, building for lawn tools, toys or pool equipment, or any similar structure must be of quality construction, kept attractive and neat, blend with the home, and be submitted to the Architectural Control Committee for approval before construction starts. The committee may require screening around it. The 2004 Section Two document adds a maximum size of 10 feet by 12 feet for detached buildings including storage buildings and pool houses, unless the committee or the developer gives a written exception. The 2003 Section One document has no size cap in it, though the unsigned 2019 restatement would apply the same 10 by 12 limit to every section. A well house or pump house needs its own written approval, and a separate paragraph bars any trailer, tent, shack, barn or outbuilding from being lived in, permanently or temporarily.
Both recorded documents use the same sentence, and it is the one that turns up all over this county. Recreational and commercial vehicles, naming campers, trailers, trucks, boats and snowmobiles, may not be kept in open areas in the subdivision, whether those open areas are on or off your own lot. The document never defines what an open area is, and it never mentions a garage in either direction, so a camper closed inside a garage is genuinely not addressed by this sentence. What is clear is that keeping one out in the open, in the driveway or in the yard, is what the clause is aimed at. Two other paragraphs lean the same way: no lot may be used for storage of old lumber, boats, cars, materials or debris that would make it look unsightly, and in the Section One document every vehicle parked overnight has to be entirely within a garage or a driveway. That last sentence is about vehicles generally and does not say a camper in a garage is fine. Because it can change what a motorhome is worth to you, ask the association in writing what it enforces before you commit.
Above-ground pools are flatly prohibited in both recorded documents. An in-ground pool is allowed, but it may not be built or installed until the plans and specifications have been approved in writing by the Architectural Control Committee, and any lighting for it needs the same prior approval. No depth, size, setback or fencing standard is written into the covenants, so the committee sets what it will accept. A pool house counts as a detached building, which in the Section Two document means a 10 foot by 12 foot cap unless the committee grants a written exception.
This is one of the tighter architectural clauses in the county. Nothing may be erected, constructed, placed, maintained or altered on a lot, and the natural topography and drainage may not be changed, until the plans have been approved by the Architectural Control Committee. The plans have to show the floor plan, the quality of the construction materials, the exterior colors, how the external design sits with the homes already there, and the location against the lot lines, topography and finish grade. One complete set is submitted and the committee keeps it. Approval or denial comes in writing, and a denial has to state its reasons. Approval is also required for pavement of any kind, including parking and recreational pavement. The committee is three people, and the documents say its decision is entirely within its own discretion. Nothing that departs from the approved plans may be built, and no change to approved plans may be made without the committee's prior written consent. Tree removal needs the committee's approval too, with trees marked in orange paint 48 hours ahead. Separately, chimneys must be masonry or masonry veneer, with the Section Two document carving out the existing home on Lot 37.
A small dish is allowed and a rooftop antenna is not, but the size rule is written differently in the two recorded documents and a buyer should know which one covers the lot. Both ban outside above-ground television, AM, FM and shortwave radio antennas of any type on any lot or structure. The 2003 Section One document then allows an 18 inch satellite dish provided it is not conspicuously visible from the street or from neighboring homes, and carves out one inconspicuous radio antenna on Lot 12. The 2004 Section Two document instead prohibits satellite dishes unless they are less than two feet in diameter, with no visibility condition attached. The unsigned 2019 restatement drops the words less than, leaving a sentence that reads oddly as prohibiting dishes unless they are two feet in diameter. Modern dishes are generally well under either limit. Federal rules on antenna installations can also override private covenants in some situations, which is a question for a lawyer rather than this page.
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 a real obligation here, and one part of it is unusual. Every lot has to be kept in good and orderly fashion with landscaping in keeping with the pattern already established in the subdivision, and no lot may be overgrown or weed infested. On top of that, every lot must have an underground irrigation system capable of adequately watering all cultivated areas, kept in working order and actually run often enough to keep things growing. That is a cost most subdivisions do not impose. Yards have to be planted with grass, sod or ground cover within 120 days of the home being finished or occupied, whichever comes first, and on wooded lots the strip between the tree line and the curb has to be planted too. Screen planting may not exceed 72 inches between the building setback line and the front lot line, and the Section One document adds the same limit within 30 feet of the rear lot line on lots that back the river. Removing any tree needs the Architectural Control Committee's approval, with trees marked in orange spray paint 48 hours before cutting. If a vacant or unkempt lot is not brought into line within 10 days of notice, the association may do the work and bill the owner.
Mailboxes are specified, not left open. One goes in front of each home, placed for easy mail and newspaper delivery and landscaped to look presentable, of similar design and materials to the home, with a newspaper receptacle directly beneath it. Both recorded documents also require brass numbers three inches tall on both sides of the box or post so they can be read from either direction, and the 2003 Section One document calls for uniform mailboxes across the subdivision. The unsigned 2019 restatement keeps the matching design and the newspaper receptacle but drops the brass-number requirement, so if that detail matters, ask the association which version it is enforcing.
Dogs, cats and other household pets are allowed. Livestock and poultry of any kind are not, and no animal may be kept, bred or maintained for commercial purposes. The permission is conditional in two further ways, and the paragraph does not stop where it first looks finished. A pet may not be allowed to become a neighborhood nuisance or hazard in any manner, and no vicious or attack-trained dog may be kept on any lot at any time. No breed is named and no limit on the number of pets is given. The Section One document also writes barking dogs into its nuisance paragraph by name, alongside excessively loud noise. A detached pet shelter counts as a detached building and needs the Architectural Control Committee's approval before it goes up.
Renting out a home here is restricted on two fronts. No lease of any dwelling unit may be entered into without prior approval, and no lease may run longer than one year. In the 2003 Section One document the approval comes from the Association; in the 2004 Section Two document it comes from the Developer, which in practice is a question to put to the association now that the developer has moved on. The documents set out no standard the approval has to be measured against and no deadline for answering, so it reads as discretionary. There is no cap on how many homes in the subdivision may be rented and no minimum ownership period before you may rent. If you are buying this as an investment, get the approval question answered in writing before you close.
A permanent or paved basketball court is named and needs approval. The same paragraph that governs pools says permanent or paved recreational and athletic facilities, naming tennis, basketball and volleyball courts, may not be erected, built or installed on any lot until the plans and specifications are approved in writing by the Architectural Control Committee, and any lighting for them needs the same prior approval. A portable hoop on wheels, or a pole hoop at the edge of an existing driveway, is not mentioned either way, so the documents do not settle it. Given that the same covenants require approval for pavement of any kind, including pavement for recreational use, anything involving a new concrete pad would need the committee. Ask the association where it draws the line on a portable unit.
One sign, five square feet. 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, plus a builder's sign of any size during the construction and sales period. The developer reserved the right to put up its own promotional signs, and the Section Two document adds that no sign may promote the sale of an undeveloped lot except by the developer or with written consent. Nothing is said about political signs, security-company signs, garage-sale signs or contractor signs, so on the face of the wording a five square foot for-sale or for-rent sign is the only sign the documents affirmatively permit. Indiana law gives some protection to certain signs that private covenants cannot override, which is a question for a lawyer rather than this page.
The driveway and the garage are the places to park. No motor vehicle of any kind may be parked, kept, stored or otherwise maintained on any street or lawn area, and no vehicle may be parked on a street between 2:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. The 2003 Section One document adds two things the 2004 Section Two document does not have: it excepts lawn mowing equipment from the street and lawn ban, and it requires every vehicle parked overnight to be located entirely within a garage or a driveway. Driveways themselves are specified, a minimum of 12 feet wide and at least four inches of concrete, with no stone or cinder permitted, and a circular drive in the Section One document has to be at least eight feet wide. Recreational and commercial vehicles have their own separate restriction, and no lot may be used for storage of old cars or boats that would make it look unsightly. Nothing caps the number of cars or addresses guest parking.
Under a heading the documents themselves call Home Occupations, both recorded instruments say no lot may be used for any purpose other than a single-family residence. That is a restriction on the use of the property, and on its face it does not leave room for running a business from the lot. What it does not do is define the line. The documents say nothing about a home office with no customers, no employees and no outside sign, which is what most people mean by working from home, and they say nothing about deliveries, client visits or commercial traffic either. The separate sign paragraph permits only a for-sale or for-rent sign, so a business sign is out regardless, and commercial vehicles are restricted by yet another paragraph. If a business is part of your plan for the house, put the specific question to the association in writing before you buy.
The documents never use the words short-term, nightly, vacation or transient, so nothing here is aimed at that kind of letting directly. What does apply is the lease paragraph: no lease of a dwelling unit may be entered into without prior approval, and no lease may run longer than one year. The one-year ceiling limits long lets, not short ones, but the approval requirement is written to cover any lease, which on the face of the wording would take in a short one. The single-family residence use restriction sits alongside it. None of that is the same as a rule written for nightly rentals, so treat this as unsettled on the documents and get the association's current written position before buying with short-term letting in mind.
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 only be kept in sanitary containers, and the equipment used to store or dispose of it has to be kept clean and sanitary. No lot may be used as a dumping ground for rubbish, grass clippings, leaves, tree limbs or compost, and clippings, leaves and other waste may not be dumped on anyone else's property in the subdivision. Both recorded documents also aim at a single collection day: all trash pickup is to be completed on one specified day each week, with the association choosing the day by majority vote. The unsigned 2019 restatement takes a softer line on the collection day, saying the association has negotiated a price with a company and asking members to consider it, and it adds a rule the recorded documents do not have, that containers be stored inside during the week except just before pickup. Debris left anywhere in the subdivision can be cleaned up at the offender's expense.
This is one of the few covenants in the county that addresses cooking fire by name, and it does so in the owner's favor with a size limit attached. Open burning is prohibited on any lot, in incinerators, in containers or otherwise, and the ban is written to cover trash, waste, refuse, building materials, leaves, tree limbs, grass clippings, debris and any other material of any kind. The very next sentence then permits the homeowner a campfire or barbecue pit up to three feet in diameter for clean burning wood or charcoal. So a charcoal fire is expressly allowed up to that size, and a bonfire or a leaf fire is not. Gas grills are not mentioned anywhere, and neither is a built-in outdoor kitchen, which would also run into the architectural approval requirement for any structure. Local and county open-burning rules apply on top of the covenants.
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.