What the recorded documents actually say about Portage Woods in South Bend — fences, sheds, pools, pets, parking and the rest — with the part of the document each answer comes from.
7 homes have sold here in the last four years, which is why this neighborhood was compiled early.
Before you rely on this page
Three rules here are tighter than the county norm and easy to miss. Every lot must carry a below-ground lawn irrigation system, serviced at least yearly, with no above-ground devices at all. No pet may be left outside after 8:00 pm. And a lease longer than one year needs the association's approval, with a copy of every lease and the tenant's contact details filed with the secretary before the tenancy starts. Fuel storage tanks are banned outright except a gas-grill propane bottle.
Invisible fences are expressly permitted, and installing and maintaining one is the owner's job and the owner's risk - including damage or removal from utility work, with no liability on the committee, the developer or the association. A pool fence is approved as part of the in-ground pool approval. On a corner lot nothing between two and six feet above the roadway may block the sight triangle.
Storage space for lawnmowers, lawn and sporting equipment, excess furnishings and a bath house for an approved pool is to be built into the garage or basement of the house. A lot may not be used to store lumber, firewood, motor vehicles, materials, junk, waste, debris or grass clippings, and exterior storage is specifically forbidden. A DETACHED GARAGE is allowed in limited circumstances on certain lots, subject to conditions the covenant sets out, so ask the committee if that is what you want.
A long list and a hard rule: boats, boat trailers, towable recreational vehicles and similar motorised or non-motorised vehicles and trailers, motorhomes, travel trailers, pickup campers or coaches, motorised dwellings, tent trailers, cases or boxes for transporting recreational equipment, snowmobiles and dune buggies may not be parked or stored on a lot EXCEPT inside an enclosed building. The one allowance is up to 24 hours on a paved area for loading and unloading. None of it may be used for living, sleeping or housekeeping while it is there.
Tennis courts and above-ground pools are prohibited. An in-ground pool may be built only after the committee's prior written approval - and the approval covers the pool's design, appearance and location AND the design, location and construction method of the pool fence, which has to meet zoning, development, health and safety standards plus whatever else the committee requires.
The architectural committee approves what gets built and where. A lot carries one single-family house of no more than two storeys and one garage, attached or detached, for up to three cars - an exception needs the committee's unanimous written approval - and no lot may be subdivided without the committee's written permission. The committee also fixes the mailbox style, the location of the exterior pole light every house carries, and the landscaping plan. That pole light runs on a photo-electric control from dusk to dawn and the owner keeps it working. All mechanical equipment, window air conditioners, satellite dishes, pool pumps and filters and playground equipment sit behind the rear building line.
Drafted around the federal rules. Ordinarily no outside above-ground television, AM, FM or short-wave antenna may go on a lot or a structure - but an owner may put up a dish of one meter (39.37 inches) or less for direct broadcast satellite service, including direct-to-home service. Wherever it goes, the equipment location paragraph applies: a satellite dish has to sit behind the rear building 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 →Every lot has to have a lawn irrigation system, and it has to be permanent below-ground sprinklers, or devices that recess when they are not running. Above-ground irrigation devices are not permitted at all, permanent or temporary. The owner keeps the system maintained and services it at least once a year. The landscaping plan itself goes through the committee's approval process. An owner also has to maintain the surface drainage system on their lot, and no grading, planting, sodding or surface covering may go between the front lot line and the outer edge of the street in a way that impedes drainage.
Every house has a mailbox, kept in good working order and looking right, and the committee sets one uniform style for the whole development.
There is a curfew here, which is rare. Dogs, cats and other household pets are allowed, none kept or bred commercially and none a neighbourhood nuisance. A pet has to stay confined to the owner's lot or be on a leash off it - and **no pet may be left outside the house after 8:00 pm.** The owner cleans up waste immediately.
Worth knowing before you buy to rent. No dwelling may be leased for more than ONE YEAR without the association's prior approval, and a copy of every lease - including the tenant's contact information - has to be delivered to the association's secretary before the tenancy starts. The owner stays responsible for the assessments, and the tenant becomes jointly and severally liable for assessments during the lease.
A basketball goal or backboard may not go on the house or the garage. Swing sets, sandboxes and similar equipment have to sit at least ten feet from any rear or side property line, and none of it may go in a front yard or anywhere closer to the street than the rear building line.
Slightly more generous than the county norm on size: one sign of up to SEVEN square feet advertising the property for sale or rent, plus a builder's or architect's sign of reasonable size during construction and sales. Political campaign signs are allowed and come down within 24 hours after the election.
Vehicles have to be parked on paved surfaces at all times, and no vehicle of any type may ever block a driveway or a public street; on-street parking is the county highway authority's to regulate. Driveways have to be at least sixteen feet wide at the curb - wider than most of the county - and built of concrete at least four inches thick or asphalt at least three. Cinder, gravel and other surfaces are not permitted.
More specific than most, and it names things people actually do. No commercial sale, assembly, repair or storage, or any other commercial activity, is allowed - and except where the law requires otherwise, no DAY CARE CENTRE, day care home, family care home, boarding house or group home either. A home occupation is permitted if it is carried on entirely inside the house by a member of the immediate family living there and stays clearly secondary to living there. A barber shop, styling salon, tea room, fortune-telling parlour, animal hospital or animal care business 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 accumulation of old automobiles or junk is permitted in the subdivision, and automotive and mechanical parts are named in the definition of waste that may not be kept.
No lot may be used as a dumping ground. Trash and garbage go in sanitary containers, and the containers live inside the house or the garage or somewhere not visible from a public road. No accumulation of lumber, scrap metal, old cars or junk is permitted - and the covenant spells out that waste includes discarded furniture, appliances, building materials, tools, toys and automotive parts. Fuel storage tanks of any type are prohibited anywhere on a lot, above ground, underground or inside the house or garage - with one exception: a gas-grill-type propane tank.
A rare and welcome carve-out. No fires, burn pits or incineration devices may operate or be placed on a street, roadway, lot or common area - EXCEPT that a properly established, maintained and controlled campfire pit for social functions on your own lot is expressly permitted. The distinction the covenant draws is a social fire versus burning something.
No permanent or temporary clothesline or clothes-drying device may be placed on a lot, and no regular or repeated hanging of laundry, rugs or other items outside the house is permitted.
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 window air conditioner has to sit behind the rear line of the house and out of sight from the public right of way - as do the satellite dish, the pool pump and filter, the playground equipment and any other appliance. Central air conditioners and backup generators are allowed on the sides of the house. An awning needs the committee's approval.
Tell us the question and we will get you the answer from the recorded documents.