What the recorded documents actually say about Northland Crossing in Elkhart — 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 the Protective Restrictions, Covenants, Limitations and Easements for Northland Crossing, a subdivision in Elkhart County, Indiana. It was signed on May 18, 2018 by the president of Pheasant Ridge Development Co., Inc. as Developer, and recorded with the Elkhart County Recorder the same day as instrument 2018-09722. It is an amendment that restates the neighborhood's restrictions in full, in 36 numbered paragraphs over 14 pages, and it is the newest covenant instrument in the county file for this neighborhood. Nothing recorded after it is in the file here.
It replaces the earlier Protective Covenants and Restrictions for Northland Crossing, which this document says were recorded at Plat Book 30, Page 43, with a handwritten instrument number beside that reference that reads as 2005-28641. That earlier set is not in the file here and was not used for any answer below.
On what it covers: the document says the lots in the additions are all subject to these covenants, and it creates the Architectural Control Committee and the homeowners association for all sections and phases of Northland Crossing. It lists no lot numbers and names no plat other than the Plat of Northland Crossing, so if the home sits in a later or separately platted phase, have the title company confirm which recorded covenants attach to that particular lot.
Three things about the copy on file are worth knowing before you rely on this page. In one sentence the document calls the neighborhood a condominium subdivision, although everything else in it describes single-family lots with private garages, building setbacks, wells and septic systems. In two places, the sentence capping assessments and the sentence about antennas, it names a different subdivision, Longview, which looks like wording left in from the form it was drafted from. And the signature page shows a pre-printed 2007 date struck through with 2018 written in by hand, which fits a reused form. Both scanned copies on file read the same way in all three spots, so these are in the recorded text rather than scanning errors. None of them changes what the rules say, but together they are a fair reason to have a title company confirm the chain of recorded covenants for a specific address.
Two gaps. No by-laws and no board rules are in the file, and the document gives the association authority to adopt bylaws, so rules can exist outside what is shown here. And the document lets the Developer record further amendments, including to the dues cap, so ask the association whether anything has been recorded since 2018.
One note on how this page was built. All 14 recorded pages were read in full from the two complete scanned copies on file, not from an excerpt of them, and the recorded page numbering runs unbroken from 1 to 14 in both copies, so no part of the instrument is missing from what was read.
Fencing is allowed but not by right. Every fence has to conform to the architectural standards set by the style of the home it sits behind, and the Architectural Control Committee has to approve it in writing before construction starts. The document sets no height limit, no material list and no deadline for the Committee to answer, so what passes is the Committee's call. One separate limit is specific: on a corner lot, no fence, wall, hedge or shrub that blocks sight lines between two and six feet above the roadway may stand inside the triangle formed by the two street lines and a line joining them twenty-five feet from the intersection, and the same sight-line rule applies within ten feet of where a driveway meets a street line. Ask for the current written standards before ordering a fence.
A detached shed is allowed with approval and a size cap. Any detached pet shelter, play house, lawn tool or toy storage building, pool apparatus building or similar structure has to be of quality construction, kept in attractive and neat appearance, blend with the established home, and be submitted to the Architectural Control Committee for approval before construction begins. The maximum size for a detached building, including storage buildings and pool houses, is 10 feet by 12 feet unless the Committee or the Developer gives a written exception. The Committee may also require protective screening around the structure, and a well or pump house needs its own written approval. Separately, no temporary structure, trailer, tent, shack, barn or other outbuilding may be used as a residence at any time.
The document bars recreational and commercial vehicles, naming campers, trailers, trucks, boats and snowmobiles, from being kept in open areas in the subdivision, whether those open areas are on or off the owner's lot. It never defines what an open area is, and it never mentions a garage either way, so a camper or boat kept inside a closed garage is genuinely not addressed by this wording. Read it as a ban on keeping these vehicles out in the open anywhere in the neighborhood, and do not read it as permission to keep one in a garage, because the document does not say that. A second paragraph adds that no lot may be used for storage of old lumber, boats, cars, materials or debris that would tend to make the lot unsightly, and a third bars parking or storing any motor vehicle on a street or lawn area. If a camper, boat or work truck matters to you, get the association's written position on it before you buy.
An above ground pool is not permitted. An in-ground pool is permitted, but only after the plans and specifications have been approved in writing by the Northland Crossing Architectural Control Committee, under the same approval process the document sets for houses. Any lighting fixtures for the pool need that prior approval too, and a pool house counts as a detached building, which carries its own 10 foot by 12 foot maximum unless the Committee gives a written exception. The document sets no fence or barrier rule for pools, so county and state requirements would govern that.
Exterior work needs prior approval. No building or other structure may be erected, placed, maintained or altered on a lot, and the natural topography or drainage of a lot may not be altered, until the Architectural Control Committee has approved the plan. Plans have to show the floor plan, the quality of construction materials, the outside colors, how the external design sits with existing structures, and the location relative to lot lines, topography and finish grade, along with pavement, well and septic locations. One complete set is submitted and is kept by the Developer. Approval is required for pavement of any kind, including parking and recreational paving, and nothing may be built that does not fully comply with the approved plans. The Committee is three people appointed by the Developer, approval or denial comes in writing with reasons given for a denial, and the document says the decision is entirely within the Committee's discretion. It sets no deadline for an answer.
A satellite dish is allowed only if it is less than two feet in diameter. Outside above ground television, AM, FM and short wave radio antennas of any type are prohibited outright, and all public utility service, including cable television, has to run underground or otherwise not be visible. One wrinkle to know about: the antenna sentence names a different subdivision, Longview, rather than Northland Crossing, which looks like wording left in from the form this document was drafted from. Both scanned copies on file read the same way, so it is in the recorded text and not a scanning error. Federal rules on over-the-air reception devices can also limit how far a restriction like this reaches in practice, so confirm the current position with the association before relying on either reading.
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 →Landscaping is required and regulated rather than optional. Every lot has to be kept in good and orderly fashion with appropriate landscaping in keeping with the pattern established in the subdivision, and no lot may be allowed to become overgrown or weed infested. The side, front and rear yards have to be planted with grass, sod or ground cover within 120 days after the house is finished or occupied, whichever comes first, unless the Architectural Control Committee approves otherwise, and on a wooded lot the ground between the tree line and the curb has to be planted too. Tree removal for a house, a driveway or landscaping needs the Committee's approval, with trees marked in orange spray paint and the Developer notified in writing 48 hours before cutting. Screen planting over 72 inches high is not permitted between the building setback line and the front lot line. On a vacant lot, the association may give ten days notice to cure and then mow or clear at the owner's cost.
Mailboxes are specified, not left to the owner. One goes in front of each home, placed for easy mail and newspaper delivery and landscaped to look aesthetically pleasing. It has to be of similar design and materials to the house, or as the Developer determines, and designed with a newspaper receptacle directly beneath it. The mailbox or post has to carry brass numbers three inches tall on both sides so they can be read from traffic in either direction. The document names no supplier and no color, so ask the association what the current standard mailbox and post are before replacing one.
Dogs, cats and other household pets are allowed. Animals, livestock and poultry of any kind may not be raised, bred or kept on a lot, with household pets as the exception, and those pets may not be kept, bred or maintained for any commercial purpose and may not be allowed to become a neighborhood nuisance or hazard in any manner. The paragraph closes with a flat ban worth reading to the end of: no vicious or attack trained dog may be kept on any lot. The document sets no number limit, no weight limit, no breed list and no leash rule, and it gives no definition of vicious or attack trained, so how that last sentence gets applied is worth asking the association about if the dog in question is a guard or protection breed. A separate paragraph allows a detached pet shelter with Architectural Control Committee approval.
Renting the house out is restricted in two ways. No lease of a dwelling unit may be entered into without the prior approval of the Developer, and no lease may run longer than one year. The document gives no standards the Developer has to apply, no deadline for an answer and no appeal, and it does not say what happens to that approval right once the Developer has sold out and the association is running the neighborhood, which is the usual situation in a subdivision platted in the 2000s. If renting the home matters to the plan, get the association's current written position on who approves a lease today and what the process is, before you buy.
A permanent or paved basketball court is named directly. Permanent or paved recreational athletic facilities, with tennis, basketball and volleyball courts given as the examples, may not be erected, built or installed on a lot unless the plans and specifications have been approved in writing by the Northland Crossing Architectural Control Committee, and any lighting for one needs that approval too. The wording reaches a permanent or paved installation. A portable hoop rolled onto an existing driveway is not named anywhere in the document, so it sits outside this sentence on its face, though a pole set in concrete would be hard to call anything but permanent. Separately, new pavement of any kind, including for recreational use, needs Committee approval. Ask before setting a post.
Signs are tightly limited. No sign of any kind may be displayed to public view on a lot, with two exceptions: one sign of not more than five square feet advertising the home for sale or rent, and a sign of any size used by a builder to advertise the property during the construction and sales period. The Developer keeps the right to put up its own signs to promote and sell lots or homes, and no sign promoting the sale of an undeveloped lot is permitted except by the Developer or with the Developer's written consent. The document does not carve out political, security, contractor or holiday signs, so on its face those fall under the general ban. Indiana and federal law can limit how far a sign restriction reaches in practice, so confirm the current position with the association before counting on either reading.
Street and lawn parking are both barred. No motor vehicle of any kind or description may be parked, kept, stored or otherwise maintained on any street or lawn area, and no vehicle may be parked on a street between 2:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. Driveway and garage parking are not addressed at all, and the document requires every home to have an attached garage big enough for at least two cars and no more than three without written consent, plus a concrete driveway at least twelve feet wide and four inches thick. Two related limits sit in other paragraphs: recreational and commercial vehicles, including campers, trailers, trucks, boats and snowmobiles, may not be kept in open areas in the subdivision, and no lot may be used to store old lumber, boats, cars, materials or debris that would make it look unsightly. The document names no enforcement step such as towing.
The paragraph headed Home Occupations says no lot or lots may be used for any purpose other than a single-family residence, and the paragraph above it allows only one single-family dwelling, up to two and one half stories, with a private garage for no more than three cars. Taken together the document treats a lot as residential only. It does not define use, and it does not carve out a home office, a remote job or a business with no customers, employees or deliveries coming to the house, so where the practical line falls is not settled by the text. The sign restriction matters here too, since the only sign allowed is a five square foot for sale or rent sign. If a business will be run from the home, get the association's written position on it first.
The document was written before short-term rental platforms and never uses the words short term, nightly, vacation rental or any platform name. What it does say is that no lease of a dwelling unit may be entered into without the prior approval of the Developer, which on its face reaches a short-term letting as much as a yearly one, and that no lease may run longer than one year, which is a maximum rather than a minimum. The single-family residence use restriction is the other provision a short-term rental would run into. Nothing here sets a minimum stay, a cap on the number of rentals or a registration requirement, and the document does not say who exercises the approval right once the Developer is gone. Ask the association for its current written policy before counting on this income.
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 may not be kept except in sanitary containers, and all equipment for storing or disposing of it has to be kept in a clean sanitary condition. No lot may be used or maintained as a dumping ground for rubbish, grass clippings, leaves, tree limbs or compost, and clippings, leaves and other waste may not be placed on anyone else's property in the neighborhood. Debris left anywhere in the subdivision may be cleaned up by the Developer at the offender's expense, and during construction debris has to be contained so it does not litter the neighbors. The document does not say where a container may sit between pickups or whether it has to be screened. It does say trash pickup happens on one specified day each week, with the association electing the day by majority vote, so ask the association which day and which hauler.
This neighborhood addresses backyard fire directly, which is unusual in this county. Open burning is prohibited on any lot, whether in an incinerator, a container or otherwise, and the ban is written broadly enough to cover trash, waste, refuse, building materials, leaves, tree limbs, grass clippings, debris and any other material of any kind. Then it carves out an exception: a homeowner is permitted to have a campfire or barbecue pit up to three feet in diameter for clean burning wood or charcoal. So a charcoal grill and a modest fire pit are expressly contemplated, subject to that three foot size and the clean fuel limit. A gas grill is not mentioned at all, and nothing here addresses where a grill may sit, so a gas grill is not caught by the burning language on its face.
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.