What the recorded documents actually say about Orchard Ridge 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 one recorded document: the Amendment to the Protective Restrictions, Covenants, Limitations and Easements Running With the Land for Orchard Ridge, Orchard Ridge Second and Orchard Ridge Section Three, for Lots 1 through 67, recorded in Elkhart County on November 1, 2006 as instrument number 2006-32301. It restates the covenants for all three sections in full, so it governs every lot in the subdivision and it supersedes everything recorded before it.
That matters, because the file also holds the older covenants and they do not say the same thing. The 1998 and 1999 documents ban outside antennas with no exception at all; the 2006 document allows a satellite dish under two feet across in an inconspicuous spot. If you are reading an older copy handed over at a showing, check the recording date before you rely on it.
The 2006 document lists the whole recorded chain behind it: the Orchard Ridge covenants for lots 1 through 26, recorded March 10, 1998 as instrument 98-006935; the Orchard Ridge Second covenants for lots 27 through 58, recorded November 19, 1999 as instrument 99-38630; amendments recorded in 2000 as instruments 2000-16191 and 2000-11005; the Orchard Ridge Section Three covenants for lots 59 through 67, recorded June 14, 2004 as instrument 2004-20127; and an amendment to Section Three recorded June 21, 2005 as instrument 2005-16545. Only the 1998 and 1999 documents are in the file. The 2000, 2004 and 2005 instruments are named but no copy of them is here, so if you want the complete chain, ask your title company to pull it from the Recorder.
Nothing recorded after November 2006 turned up anywhere in the file, but that is the file, not the public record. A newer amendment or a set of board rules could exist, and the association is the place to ask.
On dues: the 2006 document caps total dues and assessments at two hundred dollars per lot per year. A 2024 seller disclosure in the file reported dues of one hundred fifty dollars a year, which is one seller's statement rather than the association's, so ask the association for the current figure.
Every covenant here was read from a scan of paper, so confirm anything you would act on against the recorded copy from the Elkhart County Recorder or through your title company.
The paragraph on fencing allows no fence at all in front of the rear building line of the principal structure, so nothing in the front yard. Behind the house a fence may be at most four feet high, must conform to the architectural standards set by the style of home built on the lot, and must be approved in writing by the Orchard Ridge Architectural Control Committee unless that committee approves a written variance. The sight-distance paragraph separately bars any fence, wall, hedge or shrub that blocks sight lines between two and six feet above the roadway inside the triangle formed twenty-five feet back from a corner lot's street lines, and within ten feet of where a driveway meets the street.
The paragraph on detached buildings prohibits a detached storage shed or garden shed anywhere on a lot, whether for a pet shelter or for storing lawn tools, toys or other personal property. It names one exception: a structure for swimming pool equipment, which must be of quality construction, kept neat, blend with the home, be approved by the Orchard Ridge Architectural Control Committee before construction starts, and may not sit within thirty feet of the rear lot line. The committee may require screening around it, and a well or pump enclosure also needs written committee approval. The garbage paragraph assumes an enclosed accessory building such as a garage or pool shed exists for storage, which is the same narrow set.
The paragraph headed Recreational and Commercial Vehicles; Parking says campers, trailers, trucks, boats and snowmobiles may not be kept in open areas in the subdivision, whether those open areas are on or off the owner's lot, except for a period not to exceed 48 hours during loading or unloading. So there is a clear time allowance, and the loading window is the only place the document says yes. It never defines what an open area is and it never mentions a garage either way, so whether a camper inside a closed garage is reached is genuinely unaddressed. The separate storage paragraph also says no lot may be used for storage of old lumber, boats, cars, materials or debris that would tend to make the lot unsightly. If this matters to you, ask the association in writing how it reads both paragraphs before you buy.
Above ground pools are prohibited. An in-ground pool may be built, and so may a permanent or paved recreational athletic facility such as a tennis, basketball or volleyball court, but not until the plans and specifications have been approved in writing by the Orchard Ridge Architectural Control Committee. Any lighting fixtures for those facilities need the same prior approval. A structure to house pool equipment is the one detached building the covenants allow, with committee approval and not within thirty feet of the rear lot line. Approval is also required for pavement of any kind, which reaches a pool deck.
No building or other structure may be erected, placed, maintained or altered on a lot, and the natural topography or drainage may not be altered, until the construction plan has been approved by the Orchard Ridge Architectural Control Committee. Plans must show the floor plan, quality of construction materials, outside colours, how the design harmonizes with existing structures, location relative to lot lines, topography and finish grade, and the placement of pavement, well and septic system relative to neighbouring homes for the county health department. One set of plans is submitted and is kept by the developer rather than returned. A denial must be in writing with reasons stated. Approval is required for pavement of any kind, including for parking or recreational use. Nothing that does not fully match the approved plans may be built, and no deviation may be made without the committee's prior written consent. The committee is three people appointed by the developer and decides by simple majority, entirely at its discretion.
This is the answer that changed. The paragraph on utilities and television antennas keeps the old ban on any outside above ground television, AM, FM or short wave radio antenna on any lot or structure, and then adds that satellite dishes are prohibited unless they are less than two feet in diameter and located in an inconspicuous location. The older 1998 and 1999 covenants in the same file carry the antenna ban with no dish exception at all, so a copy handed over at a showing may read stricter than what is actually recorded. All utility service including cable television must run underground and out of sight. One lot, lot thirteen, was given an exemption for its original owner on condition of planting screening to minimize visibility from the street and neighbouring lots. Federal rules on over-the-air reception devices can also affect how a size limit like this is enforced, which is a question for your attorney and the association.
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 landscaping paragraph is unusually demanding. Each owner must have the front yard landscaped and the whole yard planted with grass seed, sod or ground cover within one hundred twenty days after the residence is completed. Every lot must be kept in good and orderly fashion with landscaping in keeping with the pattern established in the subdivision, and no lot may be overgrown or weed infested. Every lot must have an underground irrigation system able to water all cultivated areas, kept in working order and run enough to keep things growing. Landscaping plans for the front yard must go to the Architectural Control Committee for written approval before work starts. Tree removal for a house, a driveway, landscaping or any other purpose needs that committee's approval, and trees to be cut must be marked with orange spray paint forty-eight hours before removal. Screen planting over seventy-two inches is not permitted between the building setback line and the front lot line. On wooded lots the area between the tree line and the curb must be planted. If one owner holds two or more contiguous lots they count as one lot for landscaping. On a vacant or overgrown lot the association may give ten days notice and then mow at the owner's cost.
Mailboxes are specified rather than left open. One must be installed in front of each home, placed for easy mail and newspaper delivery, landscaped to be aesthetically pleasing, and of similar design and materials to match the home, or as the developer determines, with a newspaper receptacle directly beneath the mailbox. The document does not name a supplier or a model, so ask the association what it considers matching before replacing one.
Dogs, cats and other household pets may be kept, provided they are not kept, bred or maintained for commercial purposes and are not allowed to become a neighborhood nuisance or hazard. No other animals, livestock or poultry of any kind may be raised, bred or kept on a lot. No vicious or attack trained dogs may be kept on any lot, and the document does not define vicious or name any breed. A separate restriction means there is nowhere outside to house a pet: the detached buildings paragraph prohibits a detached structure for pet shelter.
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 →Basketball is addressed directly. A hoop or backboard may not be attached to the house. It may be attached to a metal pole placed in an appropriate location on the lot, but not within the road right-of-way and not within ten feet of the side or rear lot lines. Separately, a permanent or paved basketball court counts as a recreational athletic facility and may not be installed until plans have been approved in writing by the Orchard Ridge Architectural Control Committee, and any lighting for it needs the same approval. Pavement of any kind requires approval, so a concrete pad under a pole does too.
One sign is permitted: no more than five square feet, advertising the home for sale. A builder may use a sign of any reasonable dimension to advertise the property during construction and the sales period, and the developer reserved the right to put up its own signs to promote and sell lots. No sign may promote the sale of an undeveloped lot except by the developer or with the developer's written consent. Any other sign displayed to public view on a lot is prohibited. Note that this version says for sale only, where the older 1998 covenants in the file said for sale or rent.
There are real parking rules here. No motor vehicle of any kind may be parked, kept, stored or otherwise maintained on any street or lawn area, and no vehicle may be parked on any street between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. Campers, trailers, trucks, boats and snowmobiles may not be kept in open areas on or off the lot except for up to 48 hours while loading or unloading. Driveways may not be stone, cinder or gravel; they must be concrete at least four inches thick and at least twelve feet wide, with a circular drive at least eight feet wide. Approval from the Architectural Control Committee is required for pavement of any kind, including pavement for parking use, so an added parking pad needs a sign-off. Each homeowner must also build a four foot sidewalk four feet back from the street curb, continuous across the lot.
Under the heading Home Occupations the document says no lot may be used for any purpose other than a single-family residence. The same paragraph limits each lot to one single-family dwelling of no more than two and a half stories with a private garage for no more than three cars. There is no exception written for a home office or a business with no traffic, signage or employees, and the document does not define what counts as a use, so a quiet desk job and a customer-facing business sit on different sides of a line the covenant never draws. The sign paragraph allows only a for-sale sign, so advertising a business from the property is separately limited.
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 →No lot may be used or maintained as a dumping ground for rubbish, grass clippings, leaves, tree limbs or compost, and trash, garbage and other waste may be kept only in sanitary containers, with all storage and disposal equipment kept clean and sanitary. The document defines waste broadly, including discarded household furniture, appliances, building materials, tools, toys, automotive and other mechanical parts, and household fixtures not in use on the premises. Storage of those items is restricted to the inside of the house or an enclosed accessory building such as a garage or pool shed, and exterior storage of them is specifically forbidden. Yard waste may be composted within the lot as long as it is contained in a structure that blends with the home, does not harm the look of the subdivision and does not become a nuisance. Grass clippings, leaves and other waste may not be placed on anyone else's property in the subdivision. The association may enforce the restrictions on accumulations of rubbish, weeds and trash.
This is unusually clear and it goes the homeowner's way. The garbage paragraph prohibits open burning on any lot, whether in incinerators, containers or otherwise, and then says that prohibition shall not be construed to prohibit a backyard barbecue. No approval, size or placement condition is attached to the barbecue. The burning ban itself is broad and covers trash, waste, refuse, building materials, leaves, tree limbs, grass clippings and debris, so a fire pit for burning yard waste is a different question from a grill. The document says backyard, and the general nuisance paragraph still applies to smoke that becomes an annoyance.
The word appears once, and where it appears matters. In the utilities paragraph the developer agrees to prohibit the erection and use of overhead wires, poles, clothes lines and other facilities of any kind. The rest of that sentence is about electrical, television, cable and telephone service from poles and overhead wires around the perimeter of the development, so a reasonable person could argue the clause was aimed at utility lines and that clothes lines were swept in with them. The words are plainly there, in both scanned copies of the document, and no other paragraph addresses drying laundry outdoors. If you want a line, ask the association in writing how it reads that sentence.
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.