What the recorded documents actually say about Oak Park Estates in South Bend — fences, sheds, pools, pets, parking and the rest — with the part of the document each answer comes from.
14 homes have sold here in the last four years, which is why this neighborhood was compiled early.
Before you rely on this page
MOST OF THE LIVE RULES HERE ARE THE ASSOCIATION'S, NOT THE RECORDED COVENANT'S. The 2011 restatement gave the board power to make rules about the use of lots and dwellings, and it used it: a seventeen-item set covering parking, vehicle storage, antennas, clotheslines, fences, exterior colours, sheds, pets and trash. Those rules bind owners, their families, tenants, guests and contractors, and the board can amend them - so on anything this page cites to a rule rather than a covenant, ask the association for the current version. Lots here are large by design: at least 100 feet wide at the setback line and at least 15,000 square feet, with a 1,200 square foot minimum on a one-storey house and 1,800 on anything taller. The covenants cover Sections 1 through 4.
A fence up to six feet is allowed for a privacy area, a patio, an in-ground pool or a similar area, as long as what it encloses sits next to the rear of the house. No fence or wall may go up or be altered anywhere nearer the street than the minimum building setback line without approval, and between that line and the front lot line no fence and no screen planting may stand over 36 inches. On a corner lot nothing between two and six feet above the roadway may block the sight triangle.
Specific, and easy to get wrong. One shed per lot, no bigger than 8 by 16 feet - 128 square feet - and none on an easement. It has to complement the property, and its exterior colours have to be subdued and blend with the natural landscape. A permanent detached storage building, recreational facility or pet shelter also goes to the association's officers for approval before construction, and they may require screening. No trailer, tent, shack, garage, barn or other outbuilding may be lived in.
Everything goes in the garage here. No boat, trailer, camper, motor home, recreational vehicle, all-terrain vehicle, motorcycle, snowmobile or similar vehicle may be kept or parked on a lot except inside the garage, out of view of the street and the neighbours. The same goes for a service vehicle or trailer owned by an owner or their family. The one allowance is a moving vehicle being loaded or unloaded, for less than 24 hours.
An above-ground pool is allowed only at the rear of the property and screened from the street by a six-foot fence. Tennis courts are not permitted anywhere in the subdivision. An in-ground pool may be enclosed by a fence up to six feet.
No building may be put up, placed or altered until the association - or the committee it assigns to architectural control - approves the construction plans, specifications and a site plan, on workmanship, materials, how the design sits with the houses around it, and placement against the topography and finish grade. The association has thirty days to answer and may inspect the work after written notice. Colour is governed too: exterior colours, whether paint, brick, stone or siding, have to be subdued and blend with the natural landscape. Anything begun is finished within a year or removed completely. A lot carries one detached single-family house of up to two and a half storeys and a garage for no more than three cars, and no lot may be split to make more lots than were platted.
The rule as written contradicts itself, so ask the board before you mount anything. No exterior antenna, windmill or satellite dish may go on a structure or a lot without prior written approval. One of a size not more than two feet across is then permitted, if it is concealed by landscaping or otherwise and does not become a nuisance to other owners - and the next sentence says under no circumstances shall any such apparatus be installed. The rule opens by saying it applies to the extent the law permits, and federal rules on over-the-air reception devices protect a dish under one meter on property in your own exclusive use and control, which is larger than two feet. No lot may put out radio, television or electromagnetic signals that interfere with reception in the neighbourhood.
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 →Every owner mows, rakes leaves, removes debris, takes down unsightly dead trees, keeps fences and landscaping borders up, and keeps debris out of the drainage areas. Roadside ditches and swales are built to St. Joseph County specification and may not be filled in, and where the county requires a culvert the homeowner keeps it clear. Nothing may be built and no shrubbery planted inside the fifteen-foot utility easements.
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 →No more than three ordinary household pets. They have to stay inside an enclosure on the owner's lot or on a leash held by somebody able to control them, and be on a leash whenever they are off the lot. A dog whose barking is a nuisance to neighbours may not be kept, nor may any animal with vicious propensities. The owner cleans up the waste and repairs any damage. Livestock and poultry may not be kept, and no pet may be bred or kept commercially.
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 →Smaller than the county norm - four square feet, not five. No advertising sign of any kind may be displayed to public view except one professional sign of no more than four square feet advertising the property for sale or rent. Neighbourhood watch signs, and any information sign about the wellbeing of residents, are allowed.
One of the tightest parking regimes on this site. Every motor vehicle an owner uses is kept in that lot's garage or driveway. No vehicle may be parked on a street or right-of-way except temporarily and not recurringly, and overnight parking on a dedicated street is not allowed at all - the exception is a special function where the guests cannot fit on the owner's lot, and then only on one side of the street. No car or equipment may be parked on a yard at any time. Parking on the public green areas - the cul-de-sac greens, the out lots and the entrance islands - is prohibited, and a vehicle left on an out lot is towed at the owner's expense after 24 hours' notice. No semi-tractor trailer or car carrier may be driven on the streets or cul-de-sacs. Driveways have to be paved from the street to the garage apron; stone and cinder are not allowed.
A home occupation is allowed if it is carried on entirely inside the house by the owner who lives there and stays clearly secondary to living there. No sign or display visible from outside, nothing sold on the premises, nobody employed other than the owner, no mechanical or electrical equipment, and no business that produces extra traffic, noise or activity. A barber shop, styling salon, beauty parlour, tea room, fortune-telling parlour, animal hospital or any animal care such as dog trimming is named and excluded.
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 →No disabled vehicle may be stored in the open on a lot. Repairing or restoring a vehicle is allowed only inside an enclosed garage - or, for an emergency repair, only as far as needed to get the vehicle to a repair shop within 48 hours. No lot may be used to store old lumber, firewood, cars, materials or debris.
Bins stay out of sight. Every outdoor container of ashes, trash, rubbish or garbage has to be kept where it is not visible from any street, except at collection time, and it comes back in within 24 hours of pickup. Burning garbage or other refuse is not allowed, and refuse may not be allowed to pile up. Incinerators may not be kept on a lot at all. Firewood may not be kept outside a structure unless it is being used that year for heat, neatly stacked, in a rear yard or a side yard away from the street, and screened from view. Fuel storage tanks are not allowed, except portable government-approved containers for LP gas, gasoline or similar household materials.
The rules prohibit burning garbage or other refuse on a lot, and the covenant bars keeping an incinerator. Neither addresses a grill or a recreational fire, so ask the board.
No permanent clothesline or clothes pole may be built, put up or located on any lot.
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.