← HOA answers

Harris Crossing

What the recorded documents actually say about Harris Crossing in Granger — fences, sheds, pools, pets, parking and the rest — with the part of the document each answer comes from.

25 homes have sold here in the last four years, which is why this neighborhood was compiled early.

What you can build and change

Conditional

Fences

A fence needs architectural approval from the developer or the committee, and is grouped with detached buildings, so it has to be wood or simulated wood outside. A pool fence has to meet city or county requirements and be approved for design, size and materials, and it may not take the form of six-foot perimeter fencing - six-foot fencing has to sit inside the yard, at the pool.

Land use and architectural approval section, with Swimming Pool Fences
Conditional

Sheds & outbuildings

A detached building - storage annexe, pool house, dog house or dog exercise area - needs architectural approval, has to be wood or simulated wood on the outside, and may be no larger than 10 by 12 feet unless a written exception is given.

Land use and architectural approval section
Conditional

RVs, boats & trailers

Mobile homes, house trailers, boats, boat trailers, motor homes, camping trailers, recreational vehicles, larger commercial trucks and their trailers may not be parked on a lot for more than 72 hours. A construction or sales trailer for the developer is the exception.

Section III.C - Temporary Structures
Conditional

Swimming pools & hot tubs

Only in-ground swimming pools are permitted. An above-ground hot tub or spa is allowed subject to design, location and screening approval. Pool fencing has to meet city or county requirements and be approved.

Land use and architectural approval section, with Swimming Pool Fences
Conditional

Exterior changes & additions

No building may be put up, placed or altered until the building plans, specifications and a plan showing where the structure goes have been approved in writing by the developer or the architectural control committee, on materials, how the design sits with the houses around it, and placement against the topography and finish grade. One quirk worth knowing: if nobody disapproves within thirty days of the plans going in, formal approval is no longer required and the covenant treats the requirement as met.

Section II.E - Architectural, Location and Construction Approval
Conditional

Satellite dishes & antennas

A satellite dish is prohibited unless it is under two feet across, and an antenna may not extend more than eight feet above the roof. Federal rules on over-the-air reception devices limit how far a private covenant can restrict a satellite dish under one meter across on property within your own exclusive use and control, so ask the association how this one is handled.

Land use and architectural approval section
Not stated

Solar panels

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 →
Conditional

Landscaping, trees & gardens

Grading and seeding or sodding have to be done by the time you move in - or, if the season will not allow it, as soon as practical and no later than June 15 after occupancy. None of it may be done in a way that hinders drainage or the natural flow of surface water, and a drainage swale, drainage easement or road ditch has to be left open and unfilled.

Section II.H - Landscaping
Not stated

Mailboxes

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 →

How you can live here

Conditional

Pets

Domesticated dogs, cats and other ordinary household pets may be housed inside the residence or garage, as long as none is kept or bred commercially. Dogs have to be leashed, kennels are not permitted, and a dog exercise area has to be approved. Poultry, sheep, hogs, horses, cattle and similar farm animals may not be kept.

Lot Maintenance, Sanitary, Pets and Easements - Animals and Pets
✗ Not allowed

Renting your home

This is one to know before you buy. A 2006 amendment, passed by eighty percent of the owners, bars any lot or structure on it from being leased, let, rented, licensed or otherwise made available to anyone other than members of the owner's immediate family. Two exceptions are written in: where a lot is held by a family partnership or similar entity, the owner and immediate family of a more-than-fifty-percent interest holder may occupy it, and a temporary guest of the immediate family is fine.

Article III(F), added by the 2006 Amendment
Not stated

Basketball hoops

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 →
Conditional

Yard signs

No sign may be displayed to public view on a residential lot or building except one of no 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 restriction does not reach the developer's own signs, the entrance signs, or signs on unsold lots, and the association may put up signage on the playground and recreation easement on lot 90.

Section III.D - Fences and Signs
Conditional

Street parking

Every lot or parking driveway has to be hard-surface concrete for its full length and width, in place by the time the house is occupied unless weather delays it. Every lot also has to carry a four-foot frontage sidewalk built to the developer's specification.

Driveways and Sidewalks
Conditional

Running a business from home

A home occupation is allowed within limits: nothing outside may show the house is used for anything other than a dwelling, nobody may be employed from outside the immediate family, and no mechanical or electrical machinery may be used beyond what is normal for a household or home office. The house may not be structurally altered to show it.

Land use section, home occupation clause
✗ Not allowed

Short-term rentals (Airbnb)

Covered by the same clause: the lot may not be made available to anyone outside the owner's immediate family, which rules out short-term letting as well as a long lease.

Article III(F), added by the 2006 Amendment
Not stated

Vehicle repair in the driveway

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 →
Conditional

Trash & recycling containers

Incinerators, garbage cans and barrels have to sit inside a permanent structure or be of the concealed, in-ground type, and no ashes or rubbish may be left in public view. No lot may be used to store old lumber, boats, cars, materials or debris, and fuel tanks have to be buried or concealed.

Lot Maintenance, Sanitary, Pets and Easements - Storage and Rubbish
Conditional

Grilling & outdoor cooking

Burning trash is not allowed, other than trees or leaves burned by residents. No leaf burning may take place on the streets.

Lot Maintenance, Sanitary, Pets and Easements - Rubbish
Not stated

Clotheslines

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 →
Not stated

Flags & flagpoles

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 →
Not stated

Window coverings & decorations

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 →

Where these answers come from

The documentProtective Restrictions, Covenants, Limitations, Easements, Agreements and Charges for Harris Crossing, St. Joseph County, Indiana, with the 2006 Amendment adopted by the association
Recorded asDeclaration dated 1995-02-28, recorded as Instrument No. 95-06287
Amendment executed 2006-07-07, recorded as Instrument No. 2006.28782
Covenants ran to 2006-01-01, then extend automatically in ten-year terms
How it was readThe recorded copy on file is a scan of paper with no digital text, so it was read by optical character recognition. That can misread individual words, which is why nothing on this page is presented as a direct quote.
Checked againstthree recorded documents came down across separate listings
The associationHarris Crossing Homeowners Association, Inc., with annual dues set at $100 in the covenant, taken over from the developer, Woodfield Downs, Inc. Approvals run through the developer or the Architectural Control Committee.

Ask us about Harris Crossing

Tell us the question and we will get you the answer from the recorded documents.

We’ll get you an answer — usually the same day.