What the recorded documents actually say about Lowell Wood in Mishawaka — fences, sheds, pools, pets, parking and the rest — with the part of the document each answer comes from.
10 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 one recorded instrument: the Declaration of Covenants and Restrictions of Lowell Wood Homeowners' Association, Inc., made November 1, 2009 and recorded with the St. Joseph County Recorder on December 3, 2009 as instrument 0939620. It says on its own first page that it supersedes the declaration recorded by Lowell Wood P.U.D. on March 30, 1987, so the 1987 document is history rather than law here. Nothing recorded after 2009 for this neighborhood is in this collection.
What it covers is stated in the document: the property is 39 home sites, numbered 1 through 39, plus the streets shown on the plat, on land in the City of Mishawaka described in the declaration's own Exhibit A. The plat was prepared in September 1986 and recorded on October 17, 1986 as document 8628836. If you have seen the name Lowell Avenue in the paperwork, that is the street along the north edge of the property in the legal description, not the name of the subdivision.
One thing to be careful about when you are handed a document packet for a home here: a listing in this neighborhood attached the recorded covenants for Laurel Woods Subdivision, a different subdivision entirely, to its file. Those are not Lowell Wood's covenants and nothing on this page comes from them.
Two more practical notes. The streets in this neighborhood are private and owned by the association, so several rules that would normally stop at your lot line reach the roads as well. And the association maintains a defined list of exterior items, which means some things a buyer would expect to control are the association's and some things a buyer would expect the association to handle, including the lawn, are not. The association paragraph below sets out both lists. For the document itself, the declaration is a public record at the St. Joseph County Recorder, and the association can give you its current rules and regulations, which are not recorded.
Perimeter fencing of any type is prohibited on a home site unless the Architectural Control Committee approves it in advance and in writing. The declaration goes out of its way to close the usual workarounds: it names hedges and other growing fences, chain link and split rail alongside any other kind of fence. No height, material or placement standard is written down, so what the committee will approve is the whole question. The committee has four members approved by the association membership and the declaration says its decision is entirely within its discretion.
Tool sheds and storage sheds are prohibited by name, along with any other outbuilding of any type or nature, and any structure of a temporary character, at any time, temporarily or permanently. The same sentence also rules out a detached garage, a barn, a trailer, a tent and a shack. There is no approval route written into this paragraph, which is a contrast with the fence rule right above it, where the committee can say yes.
A recreational vehicle may be kept here, but only out of sight. The declaration bars parking trucks, recreational vehicles or any vehicle other than an automobile on a home site or on the roads in the neighborhood, and then names two ways through: entirely enclosed within a garage that is part of the dwelling, or with the association's written approval. So a camper, boat or trailer that fits in the garage is expressly contemplated, and one that does not needs a written yes from the association. The streets here are private and owned by the association, which is why the rule reaches the roads as well as the lots.
Swimming pools are named directly, and the answer is that an owner may install one only after prior written approval from both the board of directors and the Architectural Control Committee. The declaration puts pools in the same sentence as changing a driveway, a sidewalk, a paint colour or a roof colour, and as any addition to the house. It sets no standard for what will be approved, and there is no in-ground or above-ground distinction written down.
This is a tightly controlled exterior. An owner may not paint, decorate or make any change to the appearance of any part of the outside of the dwelling that departs from the plans the Architectural Control Committee originally approved, without the prior written approval of the board and the committee. The declaration then lists what needs that approval: changing sidewalks or driveways, paint colour, roof colour, additions to the dwelling, installing a swimming pool, or any other change at all. Awnings are singled out and need committee approval as well. Because the association itself paints, repairs and replaces the original style exterior doors, roofs, gutters, downspouts, exterior building surfaces and mailboxes, a change to those items is also a change to something the association maintains.
Satellite dishes are addressed by name. The declaration says 18 inch satellite dishes are acceptable with the prior approval of the Architectural Control Committee, so a small dish is contemplated but still needs a yes first. Antennas are treated more strictly: no outside above-ground AM, FM or shortwave radio antenna may be put up or kept on any dwelling, on any home site, or anywhere else on the property. The paragraph also requires public utility services to run underground wherever possible.
Solar is not mentioned anywhere in the declaration, so there is no rule written specifically for panels. What does apply is the exterior rule: an owner may change a roof colour, make an addition to the dwelling, or make any other change only after prior written approval from both the board of directors and the Architectural Control Committee. Roof-mounted panels would be both. One practical point a buyer should weigh: the association pays for the paint, repair, replacement and care of the roofs here, so anything fixed to a roof affects work the association is responsible for.
Planting is not free here. An owner may plant or remove any tree or shrub on a home site only with the approval of the Architectural Control Committee, and no lawn or landscaping may be installed at all until the committee has approved the plans in writing. Lawn care is the owner's, not the association's: the declaration says maintenance of lawns inside the boundary of a home site is not treated as common area maintenance, and the association's exterior maintenance list expressly excludes lawns, landscaping, driveways, sidewalks, patios and outdoor lighting fixtures. Owners are separately required to keep lawns and plantings up so they do not become unsightly, and if they do not, the association may do the work after ten days written notice and add the cost to that home site's assessment.
Mailboxes are an association item here, not an owner's choice. The declaration puts mailboxes on the short list of things the association paints, repairs, replaces and cares for, alongside the original style exterior doors, roofs, gutters, downspouts and exterior building surfaces, at its own discretion as and when needed. Because the box is an original style exterior item the association maintains, swapping it for a different one would be a change to the appearance of the exterior, which needs the prior written approval of the board and the Architectural Control Committee.
Dogs, cats and other household pets may be kept. Raising, breeding or keeping animals, livestock or poultry of any other kind is prohibited, and no pet may be kept, bred or maintained for a commercial purpose or allowed to become a neighborhood nuisance or hazard. The declaration sets no number limit, no weight or breed restriction, and no leash rule, and it says nothing about a dog run or kennel, though a fenced run would run into the fence rule and the outbuilding ban.
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 hoop is not named anywhere in the declaration, so no height, placement or type standard exists for one. The rule that reaches it is the exterior one: an owner may change a driveway, make an addition to the dwelling, or make any other change only after prior written approval from the board of directors and the Architectural Control Committee. A pole set in the driveway or a backboard fixed to the house falls inside that wording. A portable hoop that is not fixed to anything is not addressed either way.
No sign of any kind may be displayed to public view on a home site, with two exceptions: one sign of not more than five square feet advertising the property for sale, and a sign of any size used by a builder during the construction period. Worth noting what is not in the list. There is no exception for a political sign, no exception for a for rent or for lease sign, and no exception for a contractor or security sign, so on the face of the wording those fall under the general ban.
Only automobiles may be parked on a home site or on the neighborhood roads. Trucks, recreational vehicles and anything else that is not an automobile are barred unless they are entirely inside a garage that is part of the dwelling, or the association has approved them in writing. On-street parking of any vehicle is prohibited except for short-term guest use, and the declaration puts no number on short-term. The streets here belong to the association rather than the city, which is why it can set a rule for them at all. Driveways are the owner's to maintain; the association's exterior maintenance list expressly excludes them.
A home site may be used only as a single-family residence, except that a home occupation may be permitted. To qualify, the work has to be carried on entirely inside the dwelling, by a member of the immediate family living there and nobody else, and be clearly incidental and secondary to living there without changing the character of the home. On top of that the declaration sets four conditions: no sign or display visible from outside indicating the home is used for anything else, no commodity sold on the home site, no employee other than an immediate family member living there, and no mechanical or electrical equipment used. A barber shop, styling salon, beauty parlor, tea room, fortune-telling parlor, animal hospital, or any form of animal care or treatment such as dog trimming is expressly not a home occupation. The no mechanical or electrical equipment condition is unusually tight and is worth asking the board about if your work depends on any.
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 →This is one of the more specific trash rules in the county. All garbage, trash and refuse must be stored in appropriate containers inside the dwelling and kept there until no earlier than sundown on the evening before scheduled collection. It has to go out in sealed disposable plastic bags or in other containers the board has approved, and it has to be put at the collection spot the board designates. Separately, no home site may be used or maintained as a dumping ground, waste may not be kept except in sanitary containers, and any equipment for storing or disposing of it has to be kept clean and sanitary.
The declaration has a fires paragraph and it is a short one: no fire may be permitted to burn on any street or roadway in the neighborhood. It says nothing about a fire on a home site, and it never mentions a grill, a fire pit or a barbecue either way. On the face of that wording a contained cooking grill on your own patio is not what the paragraph is aimed at. The streets here are private and association-owned, which is likely why they are the thing named. If you plan anything with an open flame, ask the board where it draws the line.
Hanging laundry outside is prohibited. The declaration bars the hanging of laundry, rugs or other items outside the dwelling unit, with no exception and no approval route, in the same paragraph that bans outbuildings and awnings without approval. An indoor drying rack is not addressed.
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.