What the recorded documents actually say about Hunter's Run in Elkhart — fences, sheds, pools, pets, parking and the rest — with the part of the document each answer comes from.
17 homes have sold here in the last four years, which is why this neighborhood was compiled early.
Two fence types, and nothing else. A split rail fence three rails high, no more than four feet in total height, or a privacy fence around the immediate patio only, no more than six feet in total height. Either one has to match the architectural standards set by the style of the house and be approved in writing by the Architectural Control Committee first. A variance from the fence rule is possible, but it also has to be in writing from the Committee. Fences erected by the developer or by the Association itself are outside the rule, and the recorded file includes a diagram sheet from the Architectural Control Committee showing the perimeter fence layouts it accepts. Two other limits apply. No permanent structure may be built on a platted easement strip except fencing as allowed here. And on a corner lot, no fence, wall, hedge or shrub between two and six feet above the roadway may sit in the triangle formed by the two street lines and a line joining them twenty-five feet back from the intersection, or within ten feet of where a driveway meets the street.
A detached storage shed or pet shelter is allowed, but plans go to the Architectural Control Committee before construction starts, and the Committee can require protective screening around it. The standard written into the covenant is that the structure be of quality construction, be kept in attractive and neat appearance, and blend with the established home. A well house needs the Committee's written approval too. Separately, nothing temporary - trailer, tent, shack, garage, barn or other outbuilding - may be lived in on a lot at any time, even temporarily. No size limit, height or setback for a shed is stated, so the Committee's judgment is the whole test.
Recreational and commercial vehicles may not be kept in any open area in Hunters Run - and the covenant deliberately reaches past the lot line, saying it applies whether the open area is on or off the owner's lot. The list it gives is campers, trailers, trucks, boats and snowmobiles. What it does not do is offer a way to comply by hiding one: there is no carve-out in the text for a closed garage, and no screening option for vehicles the way there is for firewood. Firewood has its own rule in the same paragraph - it may not be stored in any open area without screening approved by the Architectural Control Committee, and no more than seven cubic yards may be kept on a lot.
Above ground pools are flatly prohibited. An in-ground pool is allowed, and so is a tennis court, but neither may be built or installed until the plans and specifications have been approved in writing by the Architectural Control Committee. Pool equipment gets a mention elsewhere: a detached structure used to store swimming pool apparatus is treated as a detached building, so it needs its own Committee approval and may have to be screened. The covenant sets no pool fencing standard of its own - the only fences permitted here are the split rail and patio privacy fences in the fencing paragraph, so a pool enclosure has to fit that rule or carry a written variance.
The approval gate here is wide. Nothing may be erected, constructed, placed, maintained or altered on a lot, and the natural topography or drainage of a lot may not be changed, until the Architectural Control Committee has approved the plans. One complete set of plans goes in, and they have to show floor plan, quality of construction, materials, the outside colors to be used, how the external design harmonizes with existing structures, and the location against lot lines, topography and finish grade elevations. Approvals and disapprovals are in writing. Once plans are approved, nothing that departs from them may be built and no deviation may be made without the Committee's prior written consent. The Committee is three people appointed by the Association's President, and the covenant says its decision is entirely within its discretion. No response deadline is stated. The document also releases the Committee and the board from liability for a mistake in judgment, and anyone who submits plans agrees by submitting them not to sue the Committee.
A satellite dish is allowed if it is smaller than two feet. Outside above-ground antennas are not - the covenant names television, A.M., F.M. and short-wave radio antennas of any type and bars erecting or maintaining them on any lot or structure. This is one place where reading the older document would give the wrong answer: the 1987 covenant banned satellite dishes of any type along with the antennas, and the 2016 restatement replaced that with the under-two-foot allowance. The same paragraph requires all utility service - electric, gas, telephone and cable television - to run underground and stay out of sight, and street and lot lighting to sit on posts with no visible lines. No placement or screening condition is stated for a conforming dish.
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 →Lots have to be kept in good and orderly fashion with landscaping in keeping with the pattern established in the subdivision, and may not be left overgrown or weed infested. This one carries its own enforcement: the Association gives the owner ten days' notice to fix the condition, and if it is not fixed the board may have the work done and bill the owner. New construction has a deadline of its own - side, front and rear yards must be planted with grass seed, sod or ground cover within sixty days after the house is finished or occupied, whichever comes first, unless the Architectural Control Committee decides it is better to wait for the next growing season, in which case the yards go in within the first sixty days of it. Changing a lot's topography or drainage is not landscaping here; it needs Committee approval, and grading on a drainage swale may not be altered in a way that changes how storm water runs off.
A mailbox needs the Architectural Control Committee's approval of its location, its design and its appearance before it goes up. No approved style, material or height is named in the covenant, so the Committee's standard is the whole answer - ask the Association what it is approving now before buying a replacement box or post.
Dogs, cats and other household pets are allowed. Two conditions: they may not be kept, bred or maintained for any commercial purpose, and they may not be allowed to run unattended or to become a neighborhood nuisance or hazard. Animals, livestock and poultry of any kind may not be raised, bred or kept on a lot, which rules out chickens. The covenant sets no limit on the number of pets and says nothing about breeds, and there is no leash length or containment method written in - only that unattended and nuisance standard. A detached pet shelter is allowed but is treated as a detached building, so it needs Architectural Control Committee approval first and may have to be screened.
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 →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 for rent. Builders get a wider allowance: a sign of any dimension to advertise the property during the construction and sales period. Nothing else is carved out - no political, contractor, security or garage sale sign is named, and the rule as written is a general prohibition with those two exceptions.
The covenant does not regulate where residents park an ordinary car, and it says nothing about parking on the street. What it does regulate is what may sit in the open: campers, trailers, trucks, boats and snowmobiles may not be kept in any open area in the subdivision, on or off the owner's lot. Around that, every house must have a full-size attached garage that holds at least two cars and no more than three, and driveways have to be at least twelve feet wide, asphalt or concrete at least four inches thick, with no stone or cinder drives allowed; a circular drive in front of a house may be as narrow as eight feet.
Lots are single-family residential only, and the covenant says no commercial activities of any kind may be carried on from a lot. It draws no line for a quiet home office, a licensed in-home occupation, or a business with no customer traffic - the prohibition as written is on commercial activity of any kind. The one commercial use appearing elsewhere in the document is the builder's construction and sales signage during the sales period. Keeping pets for commercial purposes is separately 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 →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 not be kept except in sanitary containers, and no lot may be used or maintained as a dumping ground for rubbish. Incinerators and any other equipment for storing or disposing of waste have to be kept in a clean and sanitary condition. The covenant does not say where containers must be stored between pickups, or when they may be at the curb. The Association is separately given power to enforce the rules about accumulations of rubbish, weeds or trash.
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 flag pole needs prior approval from the Architectural Committee before it is placed on a lot, and the Committee may require screening as a condition of approving it. Ornamental structures and statues sit in the same paragraph under the same rule. The covenant addresses the pole, not the flag - it sets no limit on pole height or placement, says nothing about what may be flown, and says nothing about a flag mounted on the house.
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.