What the recorded documents actually say about Jimtown Crossing in Elkhart — fences, sheds, pools, pets, parking and the rest — with the part of the document each answer comes from.
30 homes have sold here in the last four years, which is why this neighborhood was compiled early.
Before you rely on this page
The instrument read here covers Jimtown Crossing Phase one and two. Several topics buyers commonly ask about - solar panels, leasing or short-term rental, clotheslines, flags, window treatments and working on a vehicle at home - are not addressed anywhere in these covenants. Two obligations here are heavier than most subdivisions in the area: every lot is required to have an underground irrigation system, and no recreational vehicle or boat may sit in the open anywhere in the subdivision, including on your own lot.
Fences are capped by height and need written approval before they go up. A fence enclosure can be no more than four feet high. A privacy fence is allowed only around an immediate patio or pool, and no more than six feet there. Whatever goes in has to match the architectural standards set by the style of the house and be approved in writing by the Jimtown Crossing Architectural Control Committee; a variance from the fence rule also has to be approved in writing by that committee. On a corner lot a separate covenant bars any fence, wall, hedge or shrub that blocks sight lines between two and six feet above the roadway inside the triangle formed by the street lines and a line joining them 25 feet from the intersection, and the same limit applies within ten feet of where a driveway meets the street.
A detached structure needs the committee's written approval before construction starts, and the covenants set out the standard it is judged against. The detached-buildings covenant names pet shelters, play houses, play structures and swimming pool apparatus structures, then sweeps in any other personal property: it has to be quality construction, kept attractive and neat, and blend with the house. The committee can require protective screening around it. Separately, the general architectural covenant says nothing at all may be erected or placed on a lot until the plans are approved. A shed or outbuilding also cannot be lived in, even temporarily.
Campers, trailers, trucks, boats and snowmobiles cannot be kept in the open anywhere in the subdivision - the covenant reaches open areas on your own lot as well as off it. The one exception written in is loading or unloading for up to 48 hours, and the document adds that those cannot be back-to-back 48-hour periods.
Above-ground pools are prohibited outright. An in-ground pool is allowed only after the plans and specifications are approved in writing by the Jimtown Crossing Architectural Control Committee, and any lighting for it needs that same prior approval. A privacy fence up to six feet is permitted around an immediate pool, and a structure built for pool apparatus goes through the detached-buildings approval as well.
Everything exterior runs through the architectural committee first, and the covenant is written broadly: no building or other structure may be erected, constructed, placed, maintained or altered, and the natural topography or drainage of a lot may not be altered, until the plans are approved. Two complete sets of plans go in showing the floor plan, quality of construction materials, the outside colors, how the external design sits with existing homes, and the location on the lot; one set is kept at the developer's office and one comes back to the owner. Paving of any kind, including parking or recreational paving, also needs approval. Approval or disapproval is in writing with the reasons for a denial stated, and no change or deviation from approved plans is allowed without the committee's prior written consent. The covenants also require that the builder be approved by the developer, and say the committee's decision is entirely within its discretion.
An 18-inch satellite dish is allowed as long as it is not conspicuously visible from the street or from neighboring homes. Outside above-ground television, AM, FM and short-wave radio antennas of any type are prohibited, with one exception written into the covenant for an internet tower at the perimeter of the development. Utility service is required to be underground and out of sight.
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 →Lawn and landscaping obligations here are unusually specific. Every lot has to be kept in good and orderly fashion with landscaping in keeping with the patterns established in the subdivision, and no lot may be overgrown or weed infested. Every lot is required to have an underground irrigation system able to water all cultivated areas, kept in working order and run enough to keep things growing; exceptions can be approved by the architectural committee in writing. After a house is finished or occupied, whichever comes first, the side, front and rear yards have to be planted with grass, sod or ground cover within 120 days, and on wooded lots the strip between the tree line and the curb has to be planted and kept neat. A vacant lot has to be kept clear of rubbish and weeds with the grass at a reasonable length, and if it is not, the developer can give the owner ten days' notice and then do the work at the owner's cost. Screen planting between the building setback line and the front lot line may not exceed 72 inches high.
The covenants specify the mailbox. It goes at the front of the home, positioned for easy mail and newspaper delivery, and has to be landscaped to look good. The box has to be of similar design and materials to match the house, or as the developer determines, with a newspaper receptacle directly beneath it. House numbers go on both sides of the box or post so they can be read from either direction of traffic.
Dogs, cats and other household pets are allowed. They cannot be kept, bred or maintained for any commercial purpose, and they cannot become a neighborhood nuisance or hazard. No animals, livestock or poultry otherwise. Two specific limits are written in: no vicious or attack-trained dog at any time on any lot, and no pet may roam free of its owner's lot. The nuisance covenant separately names excessively loud barking.
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 permanent or paved basketball court is specifically covered: the covenant names basketball courts among the permanent or paved recreational and athletic facilities that may not be built or installed on a lot until the plans and specifications are approved in writing by the Jimtown Crossing Architectural Control Committee, and any lighting for one needs that prior approval too. A portable or driveway hoop is not addressed one way or the other, though the detached-buildings covenant does require committee approval for play structures generally. Worth asking the association which side of that line a portable hoop falls on.
One sign, and it has a size limit. 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. A builder gets a wider allowance - a sign of any size to advertise the property for sale or rent and during the construction and sales period - and the developer reserved the right to put up whatever signs it wants to promote and sell lots in the development.
Park in the garage or on the driveway. Motor vehicles of any kind may not be parked, kept, stored or otherwise maintained on any street or lawn area, and no vehicle may sit on a street between midnight and 6:00 a.m. Anything parked overnight has to be entirely within a garage or a driveway. The driveways themselves are specified: concrete, at least four inches thick, a minimum of twelve feet wide, with circular drives at least eight feet wide; stone and cinder driveways are prohibited, and exceptions have to be approved in writing by the architectural committee.
The covenant headed Home Occupations says a lot may not be used for any purpose other than a single family residence. Nothing in the document carves out a home office or a quiet at-home occupation, so anything beyond residential use is worth raising with the association before you count on it. A related covenant bars keeping or breeding pets for commercial purposes, and commercial vehicles cannot be kept in the open anywhere in the subdivision.
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 have to be kept in sanitary containers, and no lot or land may be used as a dumping ground for rubbish, grass clippings, leaves, tree limbs or compost. Open burning is prohibited outright - in incinerators, in containers or any other way - and the covenant lists trash, waste, refuse, building materials, leaves, tree limbs, grass clippings and debris. Collection is on one specified day each week, which the association picks by majority vote. Debris left anywhere in the subdivision may be cleaned up by the developer at the offender's expense, and if loose debris becomes a general nuisance the association's board can have it cleaned up at the lot owner's cost.
The open-burning ban has a written exception for a fire pit or barbecue pit. A homeowner may create and use one as long as it burns clean burning wood or fuel and does not become a nuisance or a health or safety hazard to any other property owner. There is no separate rule about grills, and none about how close to the house or a lot line a pit can sit.
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.