What the recorded documents actually say about Lake Terrace in Elkhart — 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
WHAT THIS PAGE RESTS ON. One recorded document governs here: the Protective Restrictions, Covenants Limitations and Easements for Lake Terrace Subdivision, recorded in Elkhart County on December 7, 2007 as instrument 2007-33467. It is a seven page scan of paper with thirty one numbered paragraphs, and every answer on this page comes from it. No amendment and no restated declaration is on file with it.
WHICH LOTS IT COVERS. The declaration says four times in its opening paragraph that it binds lots numbered 2 through 13 of Lake Terrace. It never names a lot 1, so nothing on this page is established for a lot 1 if the recorded plat has one. The subdivision sits in Osolo Township, and the declaration points to the plat recorded in Liber 32 of Plats, page 33.
ABOUT THE NAME. Despite the name, this document grants no lake rights of any kind. It says nothing about a lake, a pond, a shoreline, a dock, a pier, a beach, swimming in open water, or a boat on the water, and it draws no distinction between waterfront lots and any other lot. The only water it addresses is surface drainage and a county water supply permit, and the only places the word lake appears are the subdivision's own name and the name of the association. If water adjoins a particular lot here, any right to use it would have to come from that lot's deed or from the recorded plat, not from this document.
TWO THINGS TO PULL BEFORE YOU RELY ON THIS. The association's by-laws are referred to in the document but are not attached to it, so the rules the board actually runs on are not here. And the face of the first page carries a handwritten reference to another Elkhart County document numbered 2007-33466, recorded immediately before this one, which is not in this file. Ask your title company for that one and for the recorded plat. Anything recorded after December 2007 is not reflected here, so confirm the current documents, the current dues and whether the association is active before relying on this page.
Perimeter fencing may not stand more than six feet high, and a privacy fence around an immediate patio or pool is held to the same six feet. Both have to conform to the architectural standards set by the style of the home built on the lot, and both need written approval from the Lake Terrace Architectural Control Committee, unless that committee grants a written variance from the fence requirement. A separate sight-line paragraph keeps any fence, wall, hedge or shrub that blocks the view between two and six feet above the roadway out of the triangle formed by the street lines on a corner lot, measured twenty-five feet back from the intersection, and out of the area within ten feet of where a street line meets the edge of a driveway. The declaration does not name permitted fence materials, and it does not set a different rule for a front-yard fence.
One detached building is contemplated per lot, and no more than one. A pole barn, a detached storage building, or a structure used to store lawn tools, toys, swimming pool apparatus or other personal property has to be of quality construction, may not exceed 96 square feet of floor space, and may not have a side wall taller than 8 feet. It has to be kept attractive and neat, it has to blend with the established home, and the plans go to the Architectural Control Committee for approval before construction begins. The committee is also given authority to require protective screening around certain structures. A separate paragraph bars any trailer, recreational vehicle, basement, tent, shack, garage or other temporary structure from being moved onto, assembled, or built on a lot and lived in, temporarily or permanently.
The recreational vehicles paragraph contemplates one unit on a lot, not none. It allows storage of not more than one boat, motor home, trailer or other recreational vehicle on the lot at any time, and it requires that it be stored on a rock, asphalt or concrete surface rather than on grass or dirt. No vehicle or boat of any type, moveable or immovable, may sit on a street in the subdivision for more than one day. The last sentence of that same paragraph is awkwardly drafted and reads as though a vehicle on blocks or jack stands, a vehicle without a current license plate and matching registration, and a recreational vehicle, are tied to storage outside of an enclosed garage. On the face of the paragraph those two sentences sit in tension, so if you plan to keep a camper, a boat or a trailer here, ask the association how it reads the paragraph before you rely on either reading. A separate paragraph bars a trailer or a recreational vehicle from being used as a residence on a lot.
This is one of the few affirmative permissions in the document. The paragraph says pools and tennis courts may be erected, built or installed on any lot, and its heading names in ground pools and tennis courts. The body itself does not repeat the words in ground and does not say how an above ground pool is treated, so that edge is left open on the face of the wording. Two other paragraphs still reach a pool: a privacy fence around an immediate patio or pool is capped at six feet and needs written committee approval, and the architectural control paragraph requires written approval before any structure is placed on a lot or the lot's natural topography or drainage is altered, which an in ground pool would involve. The declaration sets no setback, no fencing specification beyond the six foot cap, and no separate approval step for the pool itself.
Approval is required before work starts. No building or other structure may be erected, constructed, placed, maintained or altered on a lot, and the natural topography or drainage of a lot may not be altered, until the construction plans have been approved by the Architectural Control Committee. The plans have to show the floor plan, quality of construction, materials, the outside colors to be used, harmony of external design with existing structures, and location with respect to lot lines, topography and finished grade elevations. Two complete sets go in, one is kept at the developer's office and one goes back to the builder, and the approval or disapproval is in writing. Nothing may be built that does not fully comply with the approved plans, and no change or deviation from them may be made without the committee's prior written consent. The committee is two people appointed by the developer and its decisions are entirely within its discretion. One point to raise with the seller or the association: the document says the committee's authority expires fifteen years after the recording date, which on a December 2007 recording would have run out in late 2022, and the document does not say who performs the approvals after that.
The restriction is written around visibility from the street rather than around the device. It bars an exterior radio, television transmission or receiving antenna, a dish of any diameter, or other such device that is viewable from the street from being erected, placed or maintained on a lot. A dish that is not viewable from the street is not reached by the words used. The paragraph sets no size limit, names no screening method, and adds that a waiver of the restriction for one lot does not waive it for other lots. Where a dish can get signal on a particular lot and still sit out of sight of the street is a practical question worth settling before you buy equipment.
Solar panels have their own paragraph and it requires written approval of both the installation and the location, obtained before construction. The approval is assigned to the developer rather than to the Architectural Control Committee, and the document does not say who takes that role once the developer is no longer involved. No size, placement, roof-face or screening standard is set, and no deadline for a decision is given. If solar matters to you, ask the association who signs off now and get the answer in writing.
Several paragraphs touch the yard. Every effort is to be made to preserve as many trees as is reasonably practical. Grading and seeding for grass or sod has to be finished by the time of occupancy, and if the season does not allow it, as soon as practical and in no event later than June 15 following occupancy. Grading, sodding and seeding may not be done in a way that hinders drainage or the natural flow of surface water, and drainage swales and easements, including roadside ditches, are to be left open and not filled. A separate paragraph requires the side, front and rear yards to be planted with grass seed, sod or ground cover within one hundred and twenty days after the structure is completed or occupied, whichever comes first, unless the Architectural Control Committee approves otherwise. Owners are required to maintain the lawn and the buildings so they are attractive in appearance and character. Hedges, shrubs and trees are also subject to the corner and driveway sight-line limits. Liquid petroleum storage tanks must not be visible from the street and may be concealed behind sight proof fencing or landscaping, or buried.
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, cats and pet birds are the animals the declaration allows, in reasonable numbers, as pets for the pleasure and use of the occupants. Animals, birds and fowl outside that list may not be kept on a lot, and cows, pigs, buffalo, llamas and donkeys are named as prohibited. No animal may be kept or bred for any commercial purpose. All animals have to be cared for and restrained so as not to be obnoxious or offensive from noise, odor or unsanitary conditions. A dog may not run at large unless it is inside a permitted dog run or fenced yard, or is with an attendant holding it firmly by collar and leash, and the leash may not be longer than eight feet. A cat may not be allowed to run at large or into any yard other than its owner's. No savage or dangerous animal may be kept on a lot. Owners carry full responsibility for damage their pet does to people or property, pets are not to be curbed near buildings, walkways, shrubbery or other public space, and the owner has to properly dispose of the waste the animal leaves on any property. A dog that barks and can be heard on a frequent or continuing basis may not be kept in any residence or on any lot. The association is given the right to require that pets be registered. No breed is singled 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 →Signs are limited by size and purpose rather than banned outright. No sign of any kind may be displayed to public view on a lot, except one sign of not more than five square feet advertising the property for sale or rent, and a sign of not more than two square feet denoting the name of the owner of the property. A builder may use a sign of any dimension to advertise the property during the construction and original sales period, and the developer reserved the right to put up the signs it wants in order to promote and effect sales of lots or structures in the development. The declaration says nothing about political, seasonal or security signs, and it does not say where on the lot a sign may sit.
Street storage is the thing the declaration limits. No vehicle or boat of any type, moveable or immovable, may be parked on a street in the subdivision for more than one day. A vehicle placed on blocks or jack stands, or one without a current license plate and matching registration, is addressed in a sentence tying it to storage outside of an enclosed garage on any lot. Every dwelling has to have a full size attached garage able to hold at least two cars and not more than three. Driveways have to be at least twelve feet wide and built of asphalt at least three inches thick or concrete at least four inches thick, stone and cinder driveways are not permitted, and a circular drive in front of a home may be a minimum of eight feet wide. The declaration does not cap how many cars may sit in a driveway and does not address overnight guest parking beyond that one day street limit.
A home occupation is expressly permitted, inside a tight definition. A lot may not be used for any purpose other than a single-family residence, except for a use conducted entirely within the residence dwelling and participated in solely by a member of the immediate family living there, which is clearly incidental and secondary to the use of the dwelling as a dwelling and does not change its character. Three conditions follow: no sign or display may indicate from the outside that the building is used for anything other than a dwelling, no commodity may be sold on the premises, and no person may be employed other than a member of the immediate family living there. Builders staffing model homes during the construction period of the development are carved out. So a quiet office or service business run by the household tends to fit the wording, while anything with retail sales on site, an outside employee, or a visible sign does not.
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 declaration never uses the words repair, dismantle or service. The one sentence that reaches the subject sits in the recreational vehicles paragraph and bars a vehicle from being placed on blocks or jack stands, or from being without a current license plate and proper matching registration, in wording that ties those vehicles to storage outside of an enclosed garage on any lot at any time. The sentence is awkwardly drafted, so whether an enclosed garage is the permitted place for a car up on stands, or whether blocks and jack stands are barred anywhere on the lot, is not settled by the words used. If you plan work that would leave a vehicle up on stands or unregistered for a stretch, ask the association how it reads that sentence first.
A lot may not be used or maintained as a dumping ground for rubbish, and trash, garbage and other waste may not be kept except in sanitary containers. All equipment for the storage or disposal of that material has to be kept in a clean and sanitary condition. The declaration does not say where containers must sit between pickups, does not require them to be screened or kept out of sight of the street, and does not name a hauler or a collection day.
The fires paragraph is a single sentence and it reaches streets and roadways, not lots. It says no fire may be permitted to burn upon any street or roadway in the subdivision. On the face of that wording a contained cooking grill on a patio or a driveway inside the lot is not what the sentence addresses. The declaration never names a grill, a fire pit, charcoal or gas either way, so nothing in it affirmatively permits one either. A separate nuisance paragraph bars any obnoxious or offensive activity and anything that becomes an annoyance or nuisance in the neighborhood, which is where a persistent smoke complaint would tend to land. Local fire and open burning rules apply on their own terms regardless of what this document says.
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.