What the recorded documents actually say about Norland Park in Mishawaka — fences, sheds, pools, pets, parking and the rest — with the part of the document each answer comes from.
9 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 a single recorded document: the Protective Restrictions, Covenants, Limitations, Easements, Agreements and Charges for Lots One to Sixty-Seven of Norland Park Planned Unit Development, City of Mishawaka, recorded in St. Joseph County on July 1, 2003 as Instrument No. 0340612. It covers lots 1 through 67, and the developer certified on the last page that the development has sixty-seven lots, so it appears to govern the whole neighborhood rather than one section of it.
No amendment to it was found among the documents on file for this neighborhood. The declaration allowed the developer to amend it alone until 90 percent of the lots were sold, and by an 80 percent owner vote after that, so an amendment recorded after July 2003 is possible and would not show up here. If a specific rule matters to your decision, have your title company or the St. Joseph County Recorder check for anything recorded against the subdivision since then.
Several things this neighborhood runs on are separate documents that are not in the file and are not summarized here: the association by-laws, the Architectural Control Committee's own written standards, and any current rules and regulations the board has adopted. Ask the association for those, and for the current dues figure, since the dollar amounts in this document are from 2003.
Lots that touch a pond are governed by an extra article and, under the declaration, by a separate pond-lot association with its own costs. If you are looking at a waterfront lot, treat the answers on this page as the floor and ask for the pond rules and the pond assessments in writing.
The copy on file is a scan of paper with no digital text, so it was read by character recognition and, on the pages carrying the recorder stamp and the vehicle, fire and pet rules, checked by eye against the scanned page images. Nothing here is presented as a direct quotation of the document.
Fencing is allowed, but the material is limited and every fence needs written approval from the Architectural Control Committee before it goes up. Fences must be PVC or a similar product; wood or metal fences are permitted only with the unanimous approval of the committee. Perimeter fencing may not exceed four feet and is allowed only in the side yards and back yard. Privacy fencing up to six feet is allowed around a patio next to the house and must conform to the architectural style of the home. The document recommends keeping fence lines out of the platted drainage easements and says an owner who fences inside an easement assumes the risk. A dog exercise area tight to the side or rear of the house may have fencing five or six feet high if the committee approves it. On a pond lot, screen planting over thirty-six inches is barred within twenty feet of the water line, and no screen planting at all is allowed within ten feet of it.
A detached storage building or pet shelter is allowed, with a size cap and prior written approval. It may not exceed 10 feet by 12 feet, must be quality construction kept in attractive and neat appearance, must blend with the established home, and the plans go to the Architectural Control Committee for written approval before construction starts. The committee may require protective screening around it. A separate rule gives six months from the start of construction to finish any addition such as a storage shed, patio, pool or fence. Nothing in the document allows an outbuilding to be used as a residence, temporarily or permanently.
The document bars campers, trailers, trucks and boats from being kept in open areas in the subdivision, and it says that applies whether the open area is on your lot or off it. It does not define what counts as an open area, and it never mentions a garage either way, so where a camper or boat may sit is left unresolved on the face of the document. Every home here is required to have a full-size attached garage sized for two to three cars, but the document does not say whether a recreational vehicle may be kept inside one. If this matters to your decision, ask the association before you buy and get the answer in writing.
Above-ground pools are prohibited outright, as are tennis courts. In-ground pools are treated elsewhere in the document as an addition to the home, which means the plans go to the Architectural Control Committee for written approval before any work starts and the work has to be finished within six months of the start of construction. Hot tubs are not named anywhere in the document.
Any alteration, improvement, remodeling or maintenance that affects the exterior appearance of the house has to be submitted to and approved by the Architectural Control Committee before work begins. The same applies to new construction and to altering a lot's topography or drainage: two complete sets of prints showing the floor plan, quality of construction, materials, exterior colors, how the design sits with existing homes, and the location relative to lot lines and finish grades. Approval or disapproval is given in writing, and approved plans cannot be changed without further written consent. A separate paragraph requires the association's prior written approval before any structure other than the house is placed on the lot or attached to any surface of the house.
Outside above-ground television, AM, FM and short-wave radio antennas are prohibited. A satellite dish is allowed if it is no more than one meter across. It has to be placed, to the extent feasible, where it is not visible from the street or other common property, and the committee may require the owner to pay for shrubbery or other screening and to keep the color of the equipment harmonious with the landscape and architecture, so long as those requirements do not unreasonably impair the installation, maintenance or use of the dish. The committee has to approve the placement in writing before it is installed.
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 →Side, front and rear yards have to be planted in grass seed or sod unless the Architectural Control Committee gives prior written approval for another ground cover. Grading and seeding must be finished by the time of occupancy, or, if the season does not allow it, as soon as practical and no later than June 15 following occupancy. Grading and seeding cannot hinder drainage, and drainage swales, easements and road ditches must be left open. Owners also have to keep the lawn mowed, remove debris and rubbish, and cut down and remove dead trees and stumps; if an owner does not, the association may enter the lot to mow, clean or repair and add the cost to that lot's annual assessment. At corners, no fence, wall, hedge or shrub may obstruct sight lines between two and six feet above the roadway inside the triangle formed by the street lines and a line joining them twenty-five feet from the intersection, and the same limit applies within ten feet of a driveway. Pond lots carry extra planting limits near the water line.
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 other household pets are allowed as long as they are not kept, bred or maintained for any commercial purpose and do not become a neighborhood nuisance or hazard. Dogs have to be kept on a leash. Kennels are prohibited. A dog exercise area has to be approved, and if it sits tight to the side or rear of the house it may have five or six foot fencing with Architectural Control Committee approval. A pet shelter structure is treated like a detached building and needs written committee approval before it is built. Livestock and poultry of any kind are prohibited. The document sets 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 →A basketball hoop or backboard needs the association's prior written approval. The rule is written broadly: no permanent or temporary structure other than the house may be placed on the lot or attached to any surface of the house, any tree, bush or other part of the landscaping without that written approval, and it names basketball hoops, backboards and nets as examples. A separate sentence says no athletic equipment or other article may be left on the lot longer than twenty-four hours without the association's prior written consent, and gives trampolines, swings and nets as examples, so a portable hoop left standing is reached by that sentence as well.
One sign of no more than five square feet advertising the property for sale or for rent is allowed. Political campaign signs are allowed and have to come down within twenty-four hours after the election they relate to. Any other sign displayed to public view on a lot is prohibited. Builders may use a sign of any size to advertise during construction and the sales period, and the developer reserved the right to put up signs to promote sales of lots and homes.
The document sets no rule about where an ordinary passenger car may be parked, on the street or on a lot. What it does restrict is recreational and commercial vehicles: campers, trailers, trucks and boats may not be kept in open areas in the subdivision, and the document says that applies whether the open area is on a lot or off it, which reaches the street. Open area is never defined and a garage is never mentioned either way. Separately, every home has to have a full-size attached garage capable of storing at least two and no more than three cars, and driveways must be at least twelve feet wide and built of asphalt, brick or concrete, with a circular drive in front allowed at a minimum of eight feet.
A home occupation is permitted, defined narrowly. It may involve only a member of the immediate family living in the dwelling, has to remain entirely within the dwelling, must be clearly incidental and secondary to the home's use as a residence, may have no sign or display, may sell no commodity on the premises, and may employ nobody outside the immediate family living there. A barber shop, styling salon, beauty parlor, tea room, fortune-telling parlor, animal hospital and any form of animal care or treatment such as dog trimming are specifically excluded. Read that alongside a separate paragraph saying no commercial, business or professional office use may be conducted on any residential lot, with an exception only for the developer and the builders. The two paragraphs pull in different directions, so a business that would draw customers or deliveries to the house is worth clearing with the association 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 →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, weeds and other waste have to be kept only in sanitary containers, and no lot may be used or maintained as a dumping ground for rubbish. Incinerators and any other equipment for storing or disposing of that material have to be kept in a clean and sanitary condition. Owners are separately required to remove all debris and rubbish from the lot as part of general upkeep. The document does not say where containers must be stored, whether they have to be screened from the street, or when they may be set out for collection.
The document never mentions grills, charcoal or gas either way. Its only fire rule is narrow: no fire may 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 reaches, though the document does not say so in as many words. Portable government-approved containers for LP gas are expressly carved out of the ban on fuel storage tanks, so keeping a propane tank for household use is contemplated. The general nuisance paragraph could still be raised against smoke that becomes an annoyance to neighbors.
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.