What the recorded documents actually say about Prairie Lane Estates West in Granger — fences, sheds, pools, pets, parking and the rest — with the part of the document each answer comes from.
28 homes have sold here in the last four years, which is why this neighborhood was compiled early.
Before you rely on this page
STEP 0 applied, and it changed the answer. The extraction input carries no windowing marker, but it is not the whole corpus. Its four documents are 8 pages of text layer plus 41 OCR'd pages, while data/ocr_text/ holds five documents and 53 pages for this slug - hoa__prairie-lane-estates-west__3 and __5 are on disk and were never selected into the input. Going further back, the ten listing folders under data/covenants/prairie-lane-estates-west/ hold four covenant-bearing PDFs that had never been rendered or OCR'd at all: a 23-page scan of the 1987 originals, the 2018 restatement for Prairie Lane West Section V, the 2018 restatement for Prairie Lane Estates Phase III, and the Articles of Incorporation. This reader rendered all four at 200 dpi and OCR'd them with the pipeline's own Tesseract settings before answering. The pipeline's warning that a previous look found BY-LAWS rather than covenants was half right, and taking it at face value would have been fatal. The input's only text-layer document is indeed the 2019 PLEHA by-laws, which carry no use restrictions. But the OCR of hoa__prairie-lane-estates-west is two documents in one file: pages 001-008 are the 1987 original covenants, and pages 009-019 are the full 2018 amended and restated covenants, 36 numbered paragraphs of real use restrictions. Every answer above comes from those, read from the cleaner standalone scan of the same instrument (the Prairie Lane West PDF filed with MLS 202611070) and checked against the OCR cache copy. Quotes were spot-checked against the page images; the 2018 document is clean typed text and OCR'd accurately. Name check. The MLS calls this community PRAIRIE LANE ESTATES WEST; the recorded instruments call the subdivision PRAIRIE LANE WEST, declared by Prairie Lane West Corporation. Treated as a match, not a hold, because the 2018 covenants tie the two names together themselves: PLEHA is a joint homeowners association for Prairie Lane Estates and Prairie Lane West, the architectural committee is the Prairie Lane Estates Architectural Control Committee, and Klinedinst Park is held for lot owners in both. Six of the ten listing folders under this slug carry Prairie Lane West covenants. The two that carry Prairie Lane Estates Addition covenants (Phase III and Phase V Part I) are the neighbouring subdivision's documents and are excluded above; that neighborhood is the separate prairie-lane-estates slug, which reads off Phase I Document No. 189957, so no instrument number is shared between the two pages. One live gap, and it matters to a buyer in Section III. The 2018 restatements in this corpus name two instruments - 8709231 (Lots 1-117) and 8733786 (Lots 118-152). The 1986 Section III covenants, Instrument No. 8622978, are in the corpus but no 2018 restatement naming that instrument was found. Section III's lots appear to fall inside the Lots 1-117 that the August 2018 restatement covers, and the by-laws tell every owner to comply with the recorded covenants applicable to the section of the subdivision where the member's lot is located. An owner of a Section III lot should confirm with the association which instrument governs before relying on any answer here. On the seven not-stated answers: solar panels, mailboxes, rentals, short-term rentals, grilling, clotheslines and flags are genuinely absent from the 2018 covenants - the full text was read and searched, and none of those words appears anywhere in it. That is silence in a document that is otherwise unusually specific, so it is real silence rather than a truncated read. Note though that the architectural-control paragraph requires written committee approval before anything is erected or altered on a lot, which is where an unlisted item such as a roof solar array would land, and the same paragraph that limits satellite dishes bans TV towers, tower antennas and windmills while saying nothing about solar.
Fences up to six (6) feet tall are permitted, as long as they do not run forward of the front foundation line of the house. Lots around Fawn Lake are the exception and a tight one: the only fencing allowed there is chain link, no more than four (4) feet high. Hedges, shrubbery and trees are expressly not caught by the fence rule, and invisible electronic pet fences are expressly permitted. All fences have to be kept in good repair by the lot owner. Read this next to the architectural-control paragraph, which requires written approval from the Prairie Lane Estates Architectural Control Committee before anything is built or altered, and next to the grandfather clause, which keeps a fence that was approved in writing under an older version of the covenants in compliance as long as it is kept in repair.
A shed or any other detached structure needs plans submitted to and approved by the Architectural Control Committee before construction begins. Size is capped at 120 square feet of outside area, it has to sit on the rear one-half of the lot, it has to be of quality construction, kept in attractive and neat appearance, and match the decor of the house. Once started, it has to be finished within six (6) months. A dog house or other pet structure is handled in the same paragraph and has to have one wall within ten (10) feet of the rear wall of the house.
Recreational vehicles have one place to live here, and it is inside a garage. Motor homes, campers, trailers of any kind, trucks, boats and other water craft, golf carts, ATVs and snowmobiles may be parked only in enclosed garages. The single written exception is 48 hours for motor homes, campers and boats for clean up and preparation. House trailers, trucks larger than one (1) ton and other offensive objects may not be parked or located on any lot at all, temporarily or permanently, and stored, obviously inoperable or unlicensed vehicles are barred from the subdivision except inside enclosed garages. A vehicle parked in violation of the paragraph, or of parking rules set by the board, may be towed at the owner's expense. Motorized recreational and utility vehicles are barred from all common areas.
In-ground only, and with paperwork. Pool plans have to be submitted and approved in writing by the Architectural Control Committee before construction begins, and above-ground pools are not permitted at all. Fencing around a pool is required, has to be installed in line with state and local law, and also needs the Committee's written approval. Hot tubs are permitted as long as they are near the rear of the house and not visible from the street.
Nothing may be erected, constructed, placed or altered on a lot, and the topography or drainage of a lot may not be altered, until the Architectural Control Committee has approved the plans. Approval or disapproval is in writing. The plans have to show the floor plan, conformity and harmony of external design with existing structures, and the location relative to lot lines, topography and finished grade elevations. No change to approved plans may be made without the Committee's prior written consent, and the Committee may require a survey at the owner's expense where property lines or easements may be an issue. The Committee has forty-five (45) days to rule on a submission and no construction may start before it issues written approval; an owner who disagrees may appeal to the full board, whose decision is final.
One satellite dish per lot for electronic signal reception. The covenants set no size limit and name no placement rule for the dish itself. TV towers, tower antennas and windmills are not permitted - the scanned text renders one of those as CS rather than CB, which reads like a typing error in the original, so check the recorded instrument if that distinction matters to you.
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 →There is a real maintenance standard here. Every owner has to keep the lot from becoming unsightly, mow often enough to prevent unsightly growth of vegetation and noxious weeds, keep lawn turf under the lesser of six (6) inches or whatever any statute or ordinance allows, maintain the landscaping on a regular basis, and remove rubbish, weeds, ashes, dead trees and shrubs, tree trimmings and lawn debris. A separate paragraph requires finished grading and grass seed or sod in the front, side and rear yards within five (5) months of occupancy, or within three (3) months of finishing a replacement septic system, weather permitting. Another paragraph keeps corner sight lines clear: no fence, wall, hedge, sign or shrub planting inside the triangle formed by the street lines and a line connecting them twenty-five (25) feet from the intersection, and nothing within ten (10) feet of where a driveway meets the street line. Changing the topography or drainage of a lot needs Architectural Control Committee approval 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 →Dogs, cats and other usual household pets are permitted. Animals, livestock and poultry of any kind may not be raised, bred or kept, and no pet may be kept, bred or maintained for a commercial purpose or allowed to become a neighborhood nuisance or hazard. Dogs have to be on a leash or lead, or contained by a fence or an invisible electric fence. The owner is responsible for cleaning up or repairing waste and damage, for making sure the pet does not create an unreasonable disturbance, and for complying with state and local law. A dog house or other pet structure counts as a detached structure and has to have one wall within ten (10) feet of the rear wall of the house.
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 hoops may be installed in driveways. Temporary or portable basketball setups on streets, in cul-de-sacs or in the right-of-way of any public street are called a safety hazard and are prohibited. The same paragraph permits other temporary recreational nets, naming soccer nets and trampolines, and playground equipment, in back yards.
No billboard or advertising sign anywhere on a lot or in the windows or doors of the house, with three exceptions written in: school participation signs, security signs, and a sign advertising the property for sale. No sign may be more than three (3) feet square. One commercial sign may be displayed temporarily in the yard for the duration of the work being done. No signs are permitted at the subdivision entrances, which the covenant attributes to a St. Joseph County ordinance.
The driveway is the only exterior spot on a lot where a motorized vehicle may be parked, so yard and lawn parking is out. Driveways themselves have to be concrete, at least sixteen (16) feet wide and four (4) inches thick, with any circular drive in front of the house at least nine (9) feet wide; stone, cinder, black sealer and asphalt driveways are not permitted, existing asphalt drives have to be three (3) inches thick, and any new or replacement driveway has to be concrete. Recreational vehicles, boats and stored, inoperable or unlicensed vehicles belong in an enclosed garage, and a vehicle parked in violation of that paragraph or of parking rules set by the board may be towed at the owner's expense.
Every lot is restricted to private residences and may not be improved, used or occupied for anything other than private single-family residence purposes. The covenants carve out no home-occupation exception of the kind many Michiana subdivisions write in, and they say nothing specific about a home office with no clients, no signage and no traffic. A separate paragraph bars keeping or breeding pets for any commercial purpose, and the nuisance paragraph bars noxious, offensive or illegal activity. Signs are limited too: no advertising sign on the lot or in a window or door, except school participation, security and for-sale signs, plus one temporary commercial sign for the duration of work being done. If you plan to work from home in a way that shows from the street, take it to the association before you count on it.
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 nuisance paragraph names it directly: nothing may be done on a lot or on the common areas that may be or become an annoyance or nuisance to the neighborhood, including, but not limited to, the repair of motor vehicles. It sits with a broader ban on noxious, offensive or illegal activity and on using the premises in a way that endangers health or unreasonably disrupts the quiet of adjoining owners.
Trash, garbage and lawn waste have to be kept only in sanitary containers and disposed of in a timely manner, and lots, houses and structures have to be properly maintained and kept in good repair. The covenants set no screening rule, no bin-storage location and no collection-day window. The maintenance paragraph separately requires removing rubbish, weeds, ashes, dead trees and shrubs, tree trimmings and lawn debris.
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 →The only rule reaching a window is the sign rule: no billboard or advertising sign may be erected or maintained in the windows or doors of the house, except school participation signs, security signs and a for-sale sign, and no sign may be more than three (3) feet square. Curtains, blinds, shades, window colour and seasonal decorations are not addressed anywhere in the covenants, so there is no uniformity standard to meet.
Tell us the question and we will get you the answer from the recorded documents.