What the recorded documents actually say about Hidden Meadow in Goshen — fences, sheds, pools, pets, parking and the rest — with the part of the document each answer comes from.
12 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 association's own documents, not from a recorded covenant. What was read is the Code of By-Laws for Hidden Meadow Homeowners Association, revised July 16, 2022, together with the board and architecture committee notice of October 14, 2023. Both are typed, unsigned, and carry no county recorder stamp or instrument number, so they are association papers rather than the recorded instrument that runs with your deed.
The recorded covenants for Hidden Meadow are not among the documents on file here. The by-laws refer to them by name, as the Amended Protective Restrictions, Covenants, Limitations, and Easements of Hidden Meadow, and say the Architectural Control Committee takes its authority from them. That matters for how you read this page: most of what buyers ask about - campers and boats, parking, pets, leasing, signs, trash, grilling, clotheslines, flags, satellite dishes, running a business from home - is the kind of thing that normally sits in that recorded document. Every topic below marked not stated means the by-laws are silent on it. It does not mean the neighborhood has no rule. The recorded covenants are a public record at the Elkhart County Recorder, and a title company can normally name the exact instrument from your legal description.
Three covenant documents were attached to Hidden Meadow homes for sale, read in full, and then set aside, because none of them governs this land. The first is a consolidated summary declaration for a different Hidden Meadow: a seventy-one lot subdivision in Monroe County, Indiana, whose lot descriptions, drainage board and recorder are all Monroe County, and which says on its own first page that it is a summary and that the actual recorded declaration takes precedence over it. The second is the recorded Protective Restrictions, Covenants, Limitations, and Easements for Hidden Meadow East, Section Four, Elkhart County instrument 2004-36677, which by its own terms covers the Section Four plat of Hidden Meadow East. The third is a fifty-two page recorded set covering Emerald Chase Sections One through Four, which names Emerald Chase on every page. No answer below comes from any of the three.
Hidden Meadow East is the neighbouring addition and has its own page here, built on its own recorded covenants. The association does look to be shared: the recorded restrictions for Hidden Meadow East, Section One create the Hidden Meadow Homeowners Association for the owners of lots in all sections and phases of Hidden Meadow, and the same by-laws used on this page were attached to a home for sale in Hidden Meadow East. But the by-laws define their development only as all of the real property comprising Hidden Meadow, and never say whether the Hidden Meadow East plats are inside that, so this page does not borrow a single rule from the East documents. Ask the association which plats it covers, and get the recorded covenants for your own plat.
A fence is named in the by-laws as an exterior addition that has to go to the association Architectural Control Committee for action before it goes up. That committee is three members, its authority comes from the recorded covenants, and the by-laws say its decisions are final. No height, material, placement or style limit is written into the by-laws themselves. The recorded covenants that the by-laws take their authority from are not among the documents on file here, so the detailed rule may well sit there. Ask the committee for the covenant text and the approval form before you order material.
The by-laws never use the word shed, but they do require architectural plans for new construction and for exterior modifications to be reviewed and approved, and they require any exterior addition to be submitted to the committee for action, so a detached storage building falls inside that. No size, placement or material limit is given. One nearby carve-out shows how narrowly the board reads these: a sandbox was exempted by motion in May 2022, and only if it sits behind the house, the neighbors have agreed, and it is kept maintained with the grass mowed around it. The recorded covenants that the by-laws take their authority from are not among the documents on file here, so the detailed rule may well sit there.
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 →The board has acted on pools twice by motion. In April 2006 it addressed above ground pools, and what it permits is narrow: a kiddie pool with no filter, taken down each night. The seasonal violation schedule adopted at the same time lists a kiddie pool left up overnight as an example of a violation, which draws a written notice, a 48-hour grace period, then a fine of ten dollars a day until it is corrected, and after a second month possible legal action and a lien. A larger or in-ground pool is not addressed by the by-laws at all, though a pool is an exterior addition and a recreational facility, both of which the by-laws send to the Architectural Control Committee. The recorded covenants that the by-laws take their authority from are not among the documents on file here, so the detailed rule may well sit there.
The association runs a three-member Architectural Control Committee. It reviews and approves architectural plans for new construction and for exterior modifications of existing homes, in keeping with the character of the development, and any exterior addition such as a fence or a recreational facility has to be submitted to it for action. The by-laws say the committee takes its authority from the restrictive covenants, that its decisions are final, and that it is every homeowner's responsibility to know and comply with those covenants. Two specific board rulings sit alongside it: a sandbox needs no committee approval if it is behind the house and the neighbors have agreed, and metal roofs were added in October 2023 with the preference that they look like shingles, match the color of the house, and get committee approval. The recorded covenants that the by-laws take their authority from are not among the documents on file here, so the detailed rule may well sit there.
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 →Solar is allowed with conditions, and this is recent and specific. The HOA board and architecture committee met on October 14, 2023 and set four: the preference is panels that look like shingles, the color of the solar shingles should match the color of the roof, the panels must be on the roof of the house, and the architecture committee must approve. The board says it amended the by-law to add solar panels and metal roofs on those terms and mailed the new by-laws to homeowners. Ask the association for the amended by-law text, since the copy on file here is the July 2022 revision that predates it.
Landscaping is required and there is a deadline. By a motion adopted June 30, 2005, every home must have lawns, landscaping and an irrigation system installed per the covenants, and the homeowner has six months from the time of occupancy to finish both or risk being in violation and fined. Landscaping is defined as anything seen from the street, usually three sides of the house, which has to be landscaped with bedding and plantings. Owners of vacant or undeveloped lots, including the developer, must keep them free of rubbish and weeds with the grass at a reasonable length; after ten days written notice the association may do the work and charge the owner. On trees, a May 2022 motion says removing a dead or dying tree needs no HOA approval, but taking trees out to build or create something in their place needs both Architectural Control Committee approval and zoning board approval.
The by-laws carry one mailbox rule, adopted by motion on June 30, 2005: every mailbox has to be permanently mounted. Nothing in the by-laws sets a style, color, numbering or post standard. The recorded covenants that the by-laws take their authority from are not among the documents on file here, so the detailed rule may well sit there.
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 →A basketball goal is a recreational facility, and the by-laws require any exterior addition such as a fence or a recreational facility to be submitted to the Architectural Control Committee for action. The by-laws do not name basketball, do not distinguish a permanent pole from a portable goal on the driveway, and set no height or placement rule. The recorded covenants that the by-laws take their authority from are not among the documents on file here, so the detailed rule may well sit there.
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 →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 →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.