What the recorded documents actually say about Heritage Pointe in Granger — fences, sheds, pools, pets, parking and the rest — with the part of the document each answer comes from.
7 homes have sold here in the last four years, which is why this neighborhood was compiled early.
Before you rely on this page
LOT ONE IS CARVED OUT OF SEVERAL RULES - the building location, the minimum house size and the materials paragraph all say except for Lot One - so if that is your lot, do not read those three off this page. Shed size also turns on your lot number: 224 square feet on lots 2-39, 576 square feet on lots 40 and 41. Minimum house sizes are 1,400 square feet for a ranch, or 800 on each of two floors for a storey-and-a-half or two-storey.
A fence up to six feet is allowed, as long as it does not run forward of the front foundation line of the house. Hedges, shrubbery and trees are not restricted by this paragraph. That is a good deal more permissive than most of the county, where four feet and a split-rail design are the norm.
A storage shed is allowed but the size depends on your lot number, so check yours. On lots 2 through 39 it may be no more than 224 square feet with no side longer than sixteen feet. On lots 40 and 41 it may be up to 576 square feet with no side longer than twenty-four feet. Either way it goes near the rear half of the lot, is used only for storage, has to match the decor of the house, and may not be metal or a pole-barn type structure. It also needs the architectural control committee's approval. No tool shed, storage shed or outbuilding may be lived in.
The line is drawn at 35 feet. A boat, boat trailer, motor home, camping trailer or recreational vehicle longer than 35 feet is prohibited outright. One that is 35 feet or shorter may not be parked or placed on a lot so as to make it unsightly - and the architectural control committee decides at its sole discretion what counts as unsightly. Semi-tractors and trailers, school buses, modular homes, mobile homes and house trailers are prohibited. Snowmobiles, motorcycles and dune buggies may not be parked outside on a lot for more than 48 hours.
Swimming pools may be built on any residential lot - the covenant says so plainly, with no above-ground ban, which is unusual here. Once installed a pool has to be fenced as county code requires.
No house may be built until the builder, the plans, the specifications and the exterior colours are approved by the architectural control committee - and the same applies to remodelling: the exterior may not be remodelled or redesigned until the remodeller and the plans are approved in writing. Two sets of plans go in, showing floor plans, quality of construction materials, outside colours, and placement against the lot lines, topography and finish grade. The committee's authority expires fifteen years after the plat was recorded. Materials are prescribed: new materials only, no cement-block exterior or above-grade cement-block foundation without written approval, and roll roofing is expressly prohibited. Anything begun is finished within a year or removed.
One satellite dish per electronic signal is allowed, plus an additional dish for internet service - which is a more generous allowance than most covenants of this era make. No dish of any type may go in the front or the side yard. Outside above-ground AM and FM short-wave antennas, earth receiving stations and transmitting stations are barred.
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 →Side, front and rear yards have to be planted with grass seed, sod or ground cover within 120 days of the house being finished or occupied, unless the architectural control committee approves otherwise. Roadside ditches and swales are built to St. Joseph County specification, may not be filled in, and are kept seeded and maintained by the owner of the lot they sit on. Where the county engineering department requires a culvert, the homeowner installs it and keeps it clear.
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 and cats may be kept, as long as neither is kept, bred or maintained commercially and neither becomes a neighbourhood nuisance or hazard. The covenant names only dogs and cats, rather than the usual broader household pets. Livestock and poultry may not be kept.
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 →No sign may be displayed to public view except one of no more than five square feet advertising the property for sale, plus a builder's sign of any size during the construction and sales period. Note that the covenant says for sale, not for sale or rent.
Driveways are wider here than in most of the county: at least sixteen feet, brick or concrete at least four inches thick, and a circular drive at least eight feet. Stone and cinder are not allowed. Snowmobiles, motorcycles and dune buggies may not be parked outside on a lot for more than 48 hours.
A home occupation is allowed if it is carried on entirely inside the house by a member of the immediate family living there, stays clearly secondary to living there, and uses no mechanical or electrical equipment. No sign or display visible from outside, nothing sold on the premises, nobody employed from outside the immediate family. A barber shop, styling salon, animal hospital, animal care such as dog trimming, a tea room and a fortune-telling parlour are named and excluded - and so, specifically, is running a licensed child care or adult care facility, which many covenants leave unsaid.
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 →No lot may be used for the storage of old lumber, cars, materials or debris, grass clippings included. Firewood may be stored if it is stacked neatly.
No home site may be used as a dumping ground for rubbish. Trash, garbage and other waste have to be kept in sanitary containers, and any incinerator or storage equipment kept clean and sanitary. No oil or fuel storage tank may be located on a home site 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 →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.