What the recorded documents actually say about Morningside in Lakeville — fences, sheds, pools, pets, parking and the rest — with the part of the document each answer comes from.
31 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 the amended and restated covenants for Morningside, signed September 8, 2009 and recorded in St. Joseph County as Document Number 0942482. It is a full restatement, not a patch, and it covers every lot in the subdivision. It was necessary because the original developer, McKee Development, never properly executed and recorded the first set of covenants; Edgewater Bank and its subsidiary Waters Edge Southwest, which had taken over the unsold lots, restated them in their entirety.
The copy on file is complete. It runs from the table of contents through paragraph 36 and the notary block on its own numbered page 20, with no gap in the paragraph numbering, and it is the only covenant document filed for this neighborhood.
Two dates on it are worth knowing. The covenants run until December 1, 2022, after which they extend automatically for successive ten-year periods unless owners record an instrument to change or end them. And the Architectural Control Committee's authority was written to expire twenty years after the plat was recorded unless the owners of a majority of lots extend it. Both of those are past or approaching, so ask the association or the Recorder whether anything has been recorded since.
One more thing the document does for itself: homes built before September 1, 2009 are treated as having met its construction standards, and any failure to meet them is waived. Those owners are still bound by everything else in it.
Because the recorded copy is a scan of paper rather than digital text, it was read by optical character recognition, so nothing here is presented as a direct quote from the summary. The verbatim wording sits beside each answer.
Fences are allowed with written approval, and only in certain places. Perimeter fencing is permitted in the rear or side yard only. If split rail fencing is approved, black coated chain link may be applied over the split rail when necessary. A privacy fence around an immediate patio of not more than six feet must conform to the architectural standards set by the style of the home. The placement, style and height of all fencing goes to the Architectural Control Committee for written approval, and no fencing may be installed in easement areas unless the committee approves that in writing. On a corner lot, nothing between two and six feet above the roadway may block sight lines inside the twenty-five foot triangle at the intersection. Retaining walls are handled in the same paragraph and also need written approval, and one along a perimeter lot line with a dangerous drop-off has to have protective landscape screening. The paragraph says it is not to be read as prohibiting hedges, shrubbery or trees.
A detached storage building is allowed with approval, within tight limits. Not more than two detached storage or pet shelter structures may be built, they have to be of quality construction, kept attractive and neat, and blend with the home, and the plans go to the Architectural Control Committee before construction starts. Any such building must sit in the rear half of the lot. If permitted, it may not exceed eight feet wide, twelve feet long and eight feet high unless the committee approves otherwise in writing, and the committee sets the roof pitch. Metal pole barns are not permitted. The committee may require protective screening around a detached structure after it is built, and it may refuse one outright on a lot it judges not suited to it. Read this against the separate paragraph on temporary or prohibited structures, which lists a tool shed and a storage shed among things not to be used on a homesite at any time; the detached buildings paragraph is the specific one and is what sets out the approval route.
The covenants bar recreational and commercial vehicles, including campers, trailers, trucks, dune buggies and boats, from being used as a temporary residence or kept in open areas in the subdivision, whether those open areas are on or off the lot. The document never defines what an open area is, and it never mentions a garage in either direction, so whether a camper inside a closed garage is reached by this paragraph is not something the recorded text answers. A separate paragraph prohibits mobile homes, motor homes and house trailers among temporary structures and says occupying a motor home as a residence in the subdivision is not permitted. If you own a camper or a boat, ask the association how it applies this before you buy.
Only a permanently installed, fully in-ground pool is permitted. Above ground, partially in-ground and on-ground pools are all barred, and the covenants define a partially in-ground pool as one whose sides rest in partial contact with the earth and a fully in-ground pool as one whose entire side surface rests in full contact with the earth. The stated intent is to prevent temporary pools that sit on top of or partially into the ground, regardless of any deck planned around them. Detailed plans showing size, placement, materials and fencing must be approved in writing by the Architectural Control Committee before installation, and the covenants recommend getting that approval before ordering materials. Tennis courts need written approval too, and the committee may require evergreen screening around playground equipment.
Nothing may be built, placed, maintained or altered on a lot, and the natural topography or drainage may not be changed, until the plans are approved by the Architectural Control Committee. Plans have to show floor plan, quality of construction, materials, outside colors, harmony of external design with existing structures, location relative to lot lines, topography, finish grade elevations and driveway placement, and two complete sets are submitted. Approval or disapproval is in writing. No structure that does not fully comply with the approved plans may be built or kept, and no change from approved plans may be made without the committee's prior written consent. The covenants also set materials: exterior siding is to be aluminum, vinyl, brick, redwood or cedar lap, no vertical Masonite; every home must be faced with brick or stone or at least partial brick or stone front or accents as approved; roof pitch must meet the county building code or 8 in 12, whichever is more restrictive, with a minimum one-foot overhang; exterior fireplace chimneys must be masonry, with a direct vent fireplace or an interior chimney with brick veneer as approved alternatives, and vinyl sided chimneys are not permitted; and every side of the house must have at least one window unless the committee grants a variance. Driveways must be at least twelve feet wide and made of asphalt at least three inches thick, brick, or concrete at least four inches thick; stone and cinder driveways are not permitted.
Outside above-ground television, AM, FM and short wave radio antennas of any type, including any type of satellite dish, are barred, and then the covenants write in the exceptions. An owner may put up a direct broadcast satellite dish no more than one meter, about thirty-nine inches, in diameter, an MMDS antenna one meter or less in diameter or diagonal, or an antenna to receive television broadcast service. Any such dish or antenna and its support must meet existing safety codes and historic preservation laws. It is to be placed, so far as feasible, where it is not visible from the street or other common property. The association may require the owner, at the owner's cost, to plant shrubbery or other screening and to make the color and installation harmonious with the landscape and architecture, so long as doing so does not impair installation, maintenance or use. Nothing may be installed until the association has approved the placement in writing.
Solar panels are addressed in one sentence inside the architectural control paragraph: the installation and its location must be approved in writing by the developer before construction. The covenants set no size, color, placement or roof-slope standard for solar, and they do not say what happens to this approval right once the developer is gone or once architectural duties pass to the association. Ask the association who approves a solar installation today, and get the answer in writing.
Owners maintain their own yards and the covenants set several standards. Front, side and rear yards must be planted with grass seed, sod or ground cover and landscaped, unless the committee approves otherwise, within one hundred and twenty days after the home is finished or occupied, whichever comes first. Owners agree to maintain the wooded character of the subdivision and to make diligent efforts to save trees; no tree more than sixteen inches in diameter may be removed unless actually necessary for construction. Protective screening areas shown on the plat must be kept planted by the lot owner at their own expense to form an effective screen, and no screen planting over thirty-six inches high is permitted between the building setback line and the front lot line. Vacant lots must be mowed so foliage does not exceed twenty-four inches, or twelve inches for the first thirty to forty feet. Individual owners plant and mow any easement area on their lot, and the association may mow it at the owner's expense if they do not. A lien can follow a failure to remove a dead tree if the association has to do it.
Mailbox placement is set by the covenants. The front of the mailbox should be two feet from the edge of the pavement. Where there is a stone or paved shoulder, the front of the box may be even with the edge of the shoulder but no closer than two feet from the pavement. A brick mailbox should be placed one foot behind the concrete curb, or as the right-of-way and maintenance easement standards require, whichever is more restrictive. The same paragraph warns that the city is not responsible for damage to mailboxes, planters, decorative stones, posts, fences or sprinkler heads inside the maintenance easement area. The covenants do not specify a style, material or color for a standard mailbox.
Dogs, cats and other household pets are permitted. Animals, livestock and poultry of any other kind may not be raised, bred or kept on a lot. Pets may not be kept, bred or maintained for a commercial purpose and may not become a neighborhood nuisance or hazard. No dog may be permitted to run at large. The covenants set no limit on the number of pets.
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 basketball post with a mounted backboard may be installed along the driveway. It must be no closer to the road than forty feet, it may not face the road, and it has to be kept in neat repair. That is the whole of the rule; the covenants say nothing about portable hoops, colour or lighting.
One sign of not more than five square feet advertising the home for sale or rent is allowed, as is a builder or developer sign of any size approved by the developer during construction and sales. Anything else displayed to public view is barred. There is a specific rule for vacant lots: no for-sale-by-owner sign advertising a vacant lot or its asking price is permitted, other than the signs of approved realtors, builders or developers, unless the committee approves it in writing. The covenants add that the price of a lot and home may never be displayed on exterior signage, and point owners to magazines, newspapers, direct mail or an MLS listing instead.
No vehicle of any type may be parked on a subdivision street, except for temporary parking by a guest of an owner. On the lots themselves, the covenants reach recreational and commercial vehicles rather than ordinary cars: campers, trailers, trucks, dune buggies and boats may not be kept in open areas on or off the lot. A separate paragraph bars using a lot to store old lumber, cars, materials or debris. Every home is required to have a full-size attached garage capable of holding at least two cars but not more than three, with four permitted only on specific lots under plans pre-approved by the committee.
A home occupation is permitted, defined narrowly. It has to be conducted entirely within the dwelling and carried on solely by a member of the immediate family living there, and it must be clearly incidental and secondary to using the home as a home without changing its character. Four conditions come with it: no sign or display indicating from the outside that the building is used for anything other than a dwelling; nothing may be sold on the premises; nobody may be employed other than an immediate family member living there; and no mechanical or electrical equipment may be used. The covenants name uses that can never count as a home occupation: 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.
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 must be kept in sanitary containers, and no lot may be used or maintained as a dumping ground for rubbish or brush. All incinerators or other equipment for storing or disposing of such material must be kept clean and sanitary. During construction of a house, the builder or lot owner has to place a construction dumpster on the homesite or make one available to it. No lot may be used to store old lumber, cars, materials or debris, grass clippings included. Firewood may be stored on a lot if it is kept orderly and tidy. The covenants do not say when containers may go to the curb.
The covenants have a fires paragraph, and it reaches only streets and roadways: no fire may be permitted to burn upon any street or roadway in the subdivision. It says nothing about fires on a lot, and it never mentions grills, charcoal, gas or fire pits in either direction. On the face of that wording a grill used on your own lot is not what the paragraph addresses. If it matters to you, ask the association whether it reads the paragraph more broadly, and check the town's own open-burning rules, which are separate from the covenants.
Hanging laundry outside is barred. The sentence sits at the end of the nuisances paragraph and applies to every lot in the subdivision. The covenants do not mention a clothesline, a drying rack or a screened or rear-yard exception, so the ban is stated without qualification.
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.