What the recorded documents actually say about Meadow Glen Estates in Elkhart — fences, sheds, pools, pets, parking and the rest — with the part of the document each answer comes from.
8 homes have sold here in the last four years, which is why this neighborhood was compiled early.
Before you rely on this page
Which homes these answers cover. Every rule below comes from one recorded instrument - the Protective Restrictions, Covenants, Limitations and Easements for Meadow Glen Estates, filed with the Elkhart County Recorder on March 4, 1999 as Instrument Number 9907199, which the recorder's stamp prints as 0099-07199.
A later recorded Correction, Instrument Number 200124667, filed August 9, 2001, exists for the express purpose of clarifying which property those restrictions reach, and the list it gives is narrower than the original wording. It names Lots 1 through 15 inclusive and Lots 74 through 83 inclusive on the recorded Plat of Meadow Glen Estates, Section One, in Plat Book 24, page 60; and Lots 15A, 16 through 32 inclusive, 44, 45, 46, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, and 61 through 73 inclusive on the recorded Plat of Meadow Glen Estates, Section Two, in Plat Book 25, page 65. If the lot you are looking at is not on that list, these answers may not govern it, and the Elkhart County Recorder or your title company can confirm what does.
Two further recordings were read and applied. An Amendment, Instrument Number 200218950, filed May 21, 2002, struck a street lighting phrase from the homeowners association paragraph and corrected the developer's name to Sierra Land Company, LLC. A Developer's Statement of Turnover, Instrument Number 2004-36164, filed October 28, 2004, records that the association was formed and that the developer handed management and its architectural control role to the lot owners. Neither changes any answer below, but the turnover changes who you ask for approval.
One thing to know about the copy on file. The copy of the restrictions attached to the listing for this neighborhood is a fax, and it is missing the document's own page 7 - the sheet carrying the end of the recreational vehicle paragraph and the start of the homeowners association paragraph. The stamped copy recorded with the county supplied that page, and it was read off the page image. The two copies agree everywhere they overlap, so nothing below rests on the gap.
Both documents were read in full, first page to last, from the scanned pages themselves rather than from a summary, and every numbered restriction in the instrument is accounted for. The answers below were checked back against the page images by eye.
These answers are a reading of the recorded text, not legal advice, and covenants can be amended. Before relying on one, ask the association for its current rules and for anything recorded since 2004.
A fence needs the Architectural Control Committee's written approval, and the restrictions set their own limits on top of that. No fence may stand nearer to any street than the rear of the building. Perimeter fencing is capped at five feet high. A privacy fence around an immediate patio may run to six feet, and it has to conform to the architectural standards set by the style of the home built on the lot. The committee may approve a variance from the fence requirement, in writing. Separately, on a corner lot nothing between two and six feet above the roadway - a fence, wall, hedge or shrub planting - may sit inside the triangle formed by the two street property lines and a line joining them twenty-five feet from the intersection, and the same sight-line limit applies within ten feet of where a street property line meets a driveway.
A detached storage or pet shelter building is contemplated, but it has to be submitted to the Architectural Control Committee for approval before construction begins. The restrictions describe what these buildings are for - storing lawn tools, toys, swimming pool apparatus or other personal property, or sheltering pets - and require quality construction, an attractive and neat appearance, and a look that blends with the established home. The committee may also require protective screening around the structure. No size, height, material or setback figure for such a building appears in the document. A separate paragraph answers a different question: it bars a trailer, modular home, manufactured home, prebuilt home, basement, tent, shack garage, barn, outbuilding or any temporary structure from being used as a residence on a lot.
The recreational vehicles paragraph reads as a placement rule rather than a ban. Storage of boats, motor homes, trailers and other recreational vehicles may not be at a location nearer the front lot line than 35 feet, so measure from your own front lot line before planning where one would sit. Nothing - vehicle, boat or structure of any type or nature, moveable or immovable - may be parked on a street in the subdivision for longer than seven consecutive days. The same paragraph goes on to say that a vehicle on blocks or without a current license plate may not be stored outside an enclosed garage on a lot at any time. The document sets no limit on how many recreational vehicles a lot may hold, and it says nothing either way about keeping a camper or boat inside a closed garage.
A pool or tennis court may not be erected, built or installed on a lot until the plans and specifications have been approved in writing. The paragraph names the developer, Sierra Land Corporation LLC, its successors and assigns, or its designated representative as the approver - not the Architectural Control Committee. A Developer's Statement of Turnover recorded in October 2004 assigned the developer's architectural control rights and responsibilities to the homeowners association, so the association is the likely place to ask today, though this particular paragraph names the developer rather than the committee. No fence, depth, setback or screening standard for a pool appears anywhere in the document.
Approval comes before work. 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. Two complete sets of plans go in; one is kept and one is returned. The plans have to show the floor plan, quality of construction, materials, outside colors to be used, harmony of external design with existing structures, and location with respect to lot lines, topography and finish grade elevations. Approval or disapproval is given in writing, and nothing that does not comply fully with the approved plans may be built or kept. One thing to settle before you plan work: paragraph 1 says the committee's authority expires fifteen years after the plat is recorded, and the Section One plat was recorded in June 1998 and the Section Two plat in September 1999, which puts that date in the past. A 2004 recorded turnover separately assigned the developer's architectural control role to the association. The document does not say how approvals run after the committee's original term lapses, so ask the association who reviews plans now.
The antennas paragraph turns on size, and the whole sentence is worth reading. It bars exposed or exterior radio or television transmission or receiving antennas, dishes over 18 inches in diameter, and other such devices from being erected, placed or maintained on any lot. The 18-inch figure is the only measurement given; the paragraph offers no approval route for anything larger and says nothing expressly about a dish of 18 inches or less. It adds that waiving the restriction for one lot does not waive it for any other lot. If you are planning satellite or antenna equipment, confirm the size with the association before ordering it.
Solar panels have their own paragraph, and it covers both halves of the decision: the installation and the location must be approved in writing before construction. The approver named is the developer. A Developer's Statement of Turnover recorded in October 2004 assigned the developer's architectural control rights to the homeowners association, so the association is the likely place to apply now. The document sets no panel type, size, orientation, roof-versus-ground or screening standard, so the approver decides case by case.
There is a planting deadline and there are two placement limits. The side, front and rear yards of each lot have to be planted with grass seed, sod or ground cover within one hundred and twenty days after the structure is completed, or after it is occupied as a home, whichever comes first, unless the Architectural Control Committee approves otherwise. No screen planting over thirty-six inches high is permitted between the building setback line and the front lot line on any lot. In the protective screening areas shown on the recorded plat as non-access easements, the lot owner has to retain and maintain the plantings at their own expense, and nothing but a screen fence, landscaping, a wall, utilities or drainage facilities may sit there. Changing the natural topography or drainage of a lot needs committee approval first.
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 may be kept in reasonable numbers as pets for the pleasure and use of the occupants; other animals, birds and fowl may not be kept or maintained on a lot. No animal may be kept or bred for any commercial purpose, and no savage or dangerous animal may be kept. The paragraph names no breed and sets no numeric limit. A dog may not run at large unless it is inside a permitted dog run or a fenced yard, or is with an attendant holding it firmly by collar and leash, and the leash may not exceed eight feet. A cat may not be allowed to run at large or into any yard or enclosure other than its owner's. Owners are fully responsible for damage their pet causes, must not curb pets near buildings, walkways, shrubbery or other public space, and have to pick up after them on any property. A dog that barks and can be heard on any frequent or continuing basis may not be kept in a residence or on a lot. The association may require pets to be registered with it and may adopt further reasonable rules about animals, so ask it what is in force now.
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, and a size cap, with two exceptions written into the same paragraph. 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. A builder may use a sign of any dimension to advertise the property during the construction and sales period. The developer also reserved the right to construct signs as it desires to promote and effect sales of lots or structures in the development. The paragraph does not mention political, security, contractor or seasonal signs either way.
Driveways are specified: no stone or cinder driveways, a minimum of twelve feet wide, and built of asphalt at least three inches thick or concrete at least four inches thick. A circular drive in front of a home may be a minimum of eight feet wide. Every dwelling has to have a full size attached garage able to store at least two automobiles but not more than three, and the land use paragraph likewise allows a private garage for not more than three cars. On the street, no vehicle, boat or structure of any type or nature, moveable or immovable, may be parked in the subdivision for longer than seven consecutive days. A vehicle on blocks or without a current license plate may not be stored outside an enclosed garage on a lot at any time. Recreational vehicles carry their own 35-foot distance from the front lot line, covered under the campers and boats answer. The document says nothing about how many cars may sit in a driveway, or about overnight parking generally.
A home occupation is allowed, and the restrictions define it tightly. A lot may not be used for any purpose other than as a single-family residence, except for a use conducted entirely within the residence dwelling, carried on solely by a member of the immediate family living there, clearly incidental and secondary to the use of the dwelling as a home, and not changing its character. Four conditions come with it: no sign or display indicating from the exterior that the building is used for anything other than a dwelling; no commodity sold on the premises; no person employed other than a member of the immediate family residing there; and no mechanical or electrical equipment used. The paragraph then names uses that are not home occupations in any event - a barber shop, styling salon, beauty parlor, tea room, fortune-teller parlor, animal hospital, or any form of animal care or treatment such as dog trimming.
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 restrictions never use the words repair, dismantle or service, so there is no rule about working on a car as such. What they do say reaches the same ground from the storage side: a vehicle on blocks, or one without a current license plate, may not be stored outside an enclosed garage on any lot at any time. A car up on blocks is the usual shape of a project vehicle, so read that as the limit - it names a permitted place rather than banning the vehicle outright, and the place it names is inside a closed garage. That sentence runs across a page break in the recorded instrument, and the quoted words below are joined from the two pages, with an ellipsis where the break falls. The quote is left exactly as the scan reads it, misspellings and all; the final words on the page image are at any time.
No lot may be used or maintained as a dumping ground for rubbish. Trash, garbage and other waste have to be kept in sanitary containers, and any incinerator or other equipment for storing or disposing of that material has to be kept in a clean and sanitary condition. The restrictions do not say where containers may sit, whether they have to be screened or out of sight, or when they may go to the curb. Separately, the association is given power to enforce the restrictions concerning accumulations of rubbish, weeds or trash.
The restrictions never name a grill, a barbecue or a fire pit. The only fire rule they contain is a placement one, and it reaches streets and roadways rather than lots: 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 your own lot is not what the paragraph is aimed at. The nuisance paragraph, which bars noxious or offensive activity and anything that becomes an annoyance or nuisance in the neighborhood, is the clause a smoke complaint would tend to run through. Local fire and open-burning rules are a separate matter from the covenants.
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.