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Mallard Pointe

What the recorded documents actually say about Mallard Pointe in Granger — 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

THE 2015 RESTATEMENT GOVERNS, AND IT CHANGED THINGS. It says in terms that parts of the original restrictions had not been actively enforced and that from its effective date everything in it would be. A structure that did not conform as of that date may stay until the compliance committee judges it to have fallen into disrepair, or until it comes down voluntarily - and once it is gone it may not be rebuilt. Lot A is an existing home included in the plat for the developer's convenience and is expressly NOT subject to these restrictions. Minimum house sizes run 1,275 square feet on a ranch to 2,000 on a raised ranch counting both levels.

What you can build and change

Conditional

Fences

Read this before you price a fence. Standard chain link is prohibited; covered chain link and polyvinyl are allowed at a conforming height. Five feet is normally the maximum and four is preferred. A six-foot privacy fence may be allowed at the rear of the house around a patio, hot tub or pool - but it has to sit interior to the yard at that feature, and a six-foot fence around the lot perimeter is prohibited outright. Anything outside those parameters goes to the compliance committee on materials, height, location and sightlines. A pool fence also has to meet city or county code.

Section III.D - Fences and Signs
Conditional

Sheds & outbuildings

A detached building - a storage building, pool house, storage annex, dog exercise area or dog house - needs the compliance committee's approval unless it already fits the parameters written into the restrictions. It has to be wood with a wood or simulated-wood exterior, and no more than 10 by 12 feet unless the committee grants a written exception. No kennel, dog house or similar structure is permitted at all under the pets paragraph, which is worth raising with the board because the two paragraphs do not sit easily together.

Section II.A - Land Use, with Section IV.C
Conditional

RVs, boats & trailers

Mobile homes, house trailers, boats, boat trailers, motor homes, camping trailers, recreational vehicles, larger commercial trucks and trailers may not be parked or kept on a lot or a street in Mallard Pointe for more than 72 hours. They may be kept inside a garage, as long as the garage door can close completely. A lot may not be used for outside storage of boats or cars for more than 72 hours either.

Section III.C - Temporary Structures, with Section IV.A - Storage
Conditional

Swimming pools & hot tubs

Only in-ground swimming pools are permitted. Above-ground pools are strictly prohibited, and the restatement closes the usual loophole by saying that includes one partly or completely sunk into the ground. An above-ground hot tub or spa is allowed if the compliance committee approves the design, location and screening. Every pool has to meet federal, state and local law and carry the proper permits.

Section II.A - Land Use
Conditional

Exterior changes & additions

The approval process here is formal, and the default runs the wrong way for you. Nothing may be built, placed or altered until the Mallard Pointe Compliance Committee - three people appointed by the association - approves the plans in writing on materials, how the design sits with the houses around it, and placement against the topography and finish grade. The request goes to the association's president by certified mail, return receipt requested, at least thirty days before you want to start. If the committee does not approve in writing within thirty days, the request is deemed DENIED - not approved, which is how most covenants in this county treat silence. An approved project has to be finished within twelve months of the approval. Construction has to begin within a year of buying the lot and the exterior be finished six months after it starts.

Section II.E - Architectural, Location and Construction Approval, with Section II.C
Conditional

Satellite dishes & antennas

A satellite dish 48 inches across or smaller is permitted as long as it is not visible from the front of the house. Anything larger than 48 inches is prohibited, and antennas are not permitted at all.

Section II.A - Land Use
Not stated

Solar panels

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 →
Conditional

Landscaping, trees & gardens

Grading and seeding or sodding have to be done by the time you move in - or, if the season will not allow it, as soon as practical and no later than June 15 after occupancy - and never in a way that hinders drainage or the natural flow of surface water. Drainage swales and road ditches stay open and unfilled. Every owner keeps the lawn and the buildings attractive, as the compliance committee reasonably judges it.

Section II.H - Landscaping, with Section IV.E
Conditional

Mailboxes

The restrictions do not set a mailbox design, but they do protect access to it: parking anywhere that blocks or impairs the postal service's access to a mailbox is prohibited, and a vehicle in violation may be towed at the owner's expense.

Section IV.F - Parking

How you can live here

Conditional

Pets

Domesticated dogs, cats and other ordinary household pets may be kept in the house or garage, as long as none is kept, bred or maintained commercially. A dog has to be on a leash whenever it is out of its own yard. No kennel, dog house or similar structure is permitted, and a pet exercise area needs the compliance committee's approval. Poultry, sheep, hogs, horses, cattle and similar farm animals may not be kept.

Section IV.C - Animals, Pets and Pet Exercising Areas
Not stated

Renting your home

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 →
Not stated

Basketball hoops

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 →
Conditional

Yard signs

To the fullest extent state law allows, no sign may be displayed to public view on a residential lot or building except one of no more than five square feet advertising the property for sale or rent. The association may put up its own signage on lot 26, which holds Mallard Lake.

Section III.D - Fences and Signs
Conditional

Street parking

Parking is written out in detail and enforced with towing. Vehicles belong in garages or on driveways. A vehicle parked on the street may not block a driveway or the postal service's access to a mailbox, and owners are asked to keep the streets clear in winter for plowing. Parking on the grass or lawn of a lot or common area is prohibited beyond four hours in a day or eight hours in a week. Mallard Pointe reserves the right to tow a vehicle in violation at the owner's expense and to report county code violations. Driveways are hard-surface concrete for their full length and width.

Section IV.F - Parking, with Section II.F - Lot Driveways
Conditional

Running a business from home

Stricter than the standard home-occupation clause, in one way that matters: no client or customer may visit the property for any business purpose - making a purchase, signing an agreement or receiving a service. Beyond that, the work has to be carried on entirely inside the house by a member of the immediate family living there, stay clearly secondary to living there, show nothing from outside, employ nobody from outside the immediate family, and use no machinery beyond ordinary household equipment. Hairdressers, barber shops, beauty shops, gift shops, rental facilities, restaurants and eating or drinking establishments are named as prohibited examples. No commercial or professional office use may be carried on on a residential lot.

Section III.B - Home Occupations, with Section III.A
Not stated

Short-term rentals (Airbnb)

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 →
Conditional

Vehicle repair in the driveway

A lot may not be used for outside storage of old lumber, boats, cars, materials or debris for more than 72 hours where it would make the lot look unsightly, as the compliance committee judges it.

Section IV.A - Storage
Conditional

Trash & recycling containers

Incinerators, garbage cans and barrels have to be either inside a permanent structure or of the concealed type and kept underground, and no ashes or rubbish may be left in public view. Fuel tanks have to be buried or concealed.

Section IV.B - Rubbish, with Section IV.A
Conditional

Grilling & outdoor cooking

Burning trash and burning leaves are both prohibited anywhere in Mallard Pointe. A grill or a recreational fire is not addressed, so ask the board how it reads that line.

Section IV.B - Rubbish
Not stated

Clotheslines

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 →
Not stated

Flags & flagpoles

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 →
Not stated

Window coverings & decorations

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 →

Where these answers come from

The documentMallard Pointe Amended and Restated Protective Restrictions, Covenants, Limitations, Easements, Agreements and Charges, Harris Township, St. Joseph County, Indiana
Recorded asOriginal restrictions recorded 1992-10-08 as instrument 9237400 by Woodfield Downs, Inc.
Amended 1994-09-08 as instrument 9434390 and 1997-04-07 as instrument 9712312
Amended and Restated Restrictions made 2015-03-02 by owners of more than 80 percent of the lots
Section plats 9213301, 9236153 and 9320383, lots 1 through 102
Restrictions ran to 2023-01-01, then extend automatically in ten-year terms unless 80 percent of owners vote otherwise
How it was readThe recorded copy on file is a scan of paper with no digital text, so it was read by optical character recognition. That can misread individual words, which is why nothing on this page is presented as a direct quote.
Checked againstthe 1992 original, the 1994 and 1997 amendments and the 2015 restatement were read in sequence, and this page is built on the 2015 document
The associationMallard Pointe Homeowners Association, Inc., an Indiana not-for-profit. Accepting the deed makes you a member, one vote per lot. Dues are $150 a lot a year, billed 1 April and due within thirty days, prorated to the closing date when you buy mid-year. The board may raise them, but not by more than 15 percent in a year without a majority vote of a quorum of the membership or a unanimous board vote. Dues unpaid more than thirty days become a lien and run 12 percent interest, and a member behind on dues loses the vote and may lose the use of the Green Belt Areas. The association owns lot 26, which holds Mallard Lake and the retention area, and maintains it along with the two Brick Road entrances, the mounded areas, the street lights and the common landscaping. Members and their families have the right to use the lake retention area under the association's rules. Plans go to the three-person Mallard Pointe Compliance Committee.

Ask us about Mallard Pointe

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