← HOA answers

Quail Ridge at Knollwood

What the recorded documents actually say about Quail Ridge at Knollwood in Granger — fences, sheds, pools, pets, parking and the rest — with the part of the document each answer comes from.

12 homes have sold here in the last four years, which is why this neighborhood was compiled early.

Before you rely on this page

THREE QUAIL RIDGE NEIGHBORHOODS EXIST AND THEY ARE NOT THE SAME. This page covers Quail Ridge at Knollwood, Sections One and Two - lots 1 through 66. Quail Ridge at Knollwood 2 and Quail Ridge at Knollwood South have their own pages in this directory and their own recorded covenants. Certain LAKE LOTS in Quail Ridge at Knollwood South Sections Seven, Nine and Ten carry an ADDITIONAL set of restrictions on top of the ordinary ones, so if the lot touches water, ask for that document specifically. Two rules here are unlike anything else in the directory and are worth reading before you write an offer: the driveway is the ONLY exterior place a vehicle may be parked, and asphalt driveways are prohibited outright - concrete or brick pavers only. On the friendlier side, a driveway basketball hoop, a trampoline, playground equipment and a properly contained wood recreational fire are all expressly permitted, and a grandfather clause protects anything previously approved.

What you can build and change

Conditional

Fences

Every fence, anywhere on a lot, must be approved in writing by the architectural committee BEFORE it is installed. The standard is judgement rather than a measurement: fencing has to stay harmonious with the architectural character of the community and be built to professional levels of quality, design, material, composition and colour as the committee determines. No fence will be approved that obstructs sight lines for traffic, and the committee weighs whether a fence unduly obstructs views from neighbouring properties and amenity areas. There are further conditions in the fencing subsections - ask the committee for the current fencing standards before you buy materials.

Paragraph 11 - Fencing, with Paragraph 21
Conditional

Sheds & outbuildings

A detached structure is allowed for any purpose the covenant does not otherwise prohibit, with real dimensional limits: maximum ground coverage of ONE HUNDRED SQUARE FEET and maximum height of TEN FEET from the ground. It has to be quality construction that MATCHES the house and sits so as to blend with the house and the adjoining lots, kept attractive and neat, and plans go to the committee before construction begins - the committee also decides where it goes. Note what is prohibited outright and catches people: mini-barns and TREE HOUSES, along with trailers, modular, manufactured and prebuilt homes, tents, shacks, garages and barns as temporary structures.

Paragraphs 14 and 16 - Prohibited Structures, Detached Structures
✗ Not allowed

RVs, boats & trailers

Enclosed garage or nowhere. Vehicles Indiana labels or classifies as commercial and requires to be registered with INDOT or the BMV may be parked only in enclosed garages - and the covenant's list is long: tractors, buses, mobile homes, recreational vehicles, trailers with or without wheels, campers, camper trailers, boats, other watercraft and boat trailers. PICKUP TRUCKS are on that list too, unless the truck is also used as a principal mode of transportation, which is a detail most covenants leave out.

Paragraph 26 - Recreational and Commercial Vehicles
Conditional

Swimming pools & hot tubs

Permanent above-ground pools are not permitted, and neither is any recreational court. But the covenant says expressly that this does not preclude a HOT TUB, a SPA or an IN-GROUND POOL with the architectural committee's prior approval - so the path is open, it just runs through the committee.

Paragraph 15 - Recreational Courts, Equipment and Pools
Conditional

Exterior changes & additions

Nothing is built, placed, altered or re-graded until the committee approves the plans in writing - floor plan, quality of construction, materials, exterior colours, how the design sits with existing structures, and placement against the lot lines, topography and finish grade. Two sets go in. The committee is three association members appointed by the board, and it approves ADDITIONS and structural alterations to existing houses as well as new construction; if it says no, you can appeal to the full board. There is also a GRANDFATHER CLAUSE most covenants lack: a non-temporary design change - fencing, storage structures, recreational equipment, pools and other controlled items - that was approved in writing or identified as compliant under the covenants in force at the time stays compliant under current and future covenants, as long as it is kept in proper repair and appearance. Anything begun is finished within a year or removed.

Paragraphs 4, 5, 12 and 22
Conditional

Satellite dishes & antennas

Drafted around the federal rule. The general ban covers outside or above-ground television, AM, FM and short-wave antennas of any type, satellite dishes included - but an owner MAY put up a direct broadcast satellite dish of one meter (39 inches) or less, an antenna to receive television broadcast service, and the other protected devices the paragraph lists. All telephone and public utility lines run underground, and street and lot lighting sits on posts with no visible lines.

Paragraph 27 - Utilities
Conditional

Solar panels

Expressly permitted, which most covenants of this vintage do not address at all. An owner may install solar panels in or on the house or an approved structure, provided plans go to the architectural committee and are approved. No installation may begin without that prior WRITTEN approval, so get it in hand before you sign with an installer.

Paragraph 27(D) - Utilities
Conditional

Landscaping, trees & gardens

The maintenance standard here is specific and enforceable. Every owner keeps the lot from becoming unsightly: mowing as often as needed, with LAWN TURF NEVER EXCEEDING EIGHT INCHES or the local legal maximum, whichever is lower; removing all rubbish; maintaining the landscaping regularly; and removing dead trees, shrubs, plants and debris. If an owner does not, the association gives notice and a fourteen-day cure period, and may then enter the lot to mow, clean, repair or maintain it and BILL THE OWNER for the cost. Yards are seeded or sodded within 150 days of the house being finished or occupied. Screen plantings in the platted non-access easements are the lot owner's expense.

Paragraphs 30, 31, 22 and 10
Not stated

Mailboxes

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 →

How you can live here

Conditional

Pets

Dogs, cats and other usual household pets are allowed, none kept, bred or maintained commercially and none permitted to become a neighbourhood nuisance or hazard. The owner is responsible for cleaning up or repairing any waste or damage the pet causes, for making sure it creates no unreasonable disturbance, and for complying with state and local pet law. Livestock and poultry may not be kept.

Paragraph 19 - Animals and Pets
Not stated

Renting your home

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 →
Conditional

Basketball hoops

One of the few covenants in this directory that says YES to a basketball hoop in plain terms. A hoop may be installed in the driveway. Temporary recreational nets - soccer nets and trampolines are the examples given - and playground equipment are permitted in yards. Two limits: a portable or temporary basketball setup in the street, a cul-de-sac or any public right of way is prohibited as a safety hazard, and no lighted court of any kind is allowed in a yard. Permanent recreational COURTS are not permitted at all.

Paragraph 15 - Recreational Courts, Equipment and Pools
Conditional

Yard signs

More generous and more detailed than most. Permitted: political candidate and ballot signs, school participation signs, signs required by legal proceedings, and a for-sale or for-rent sign - none more than five feet square. Security signs, lawn application signs and electric fence signs are allowed at up to one foot by one foot. Political signs carry three rules: not up more than thirty days before the election, down within five days after it, and no more than three signs in total.

Paragraph 18 - Signs
Conditional

Street parking

Read the first sentence before you plan a parking pad: the DRIVEWAY is the only exterior location on which a motorized vehicle may be parked. And the driveway material rule is stricter than anywhere else in this directory - stone, cinder AND ASPHALT are all prohibited, so a driveway must be concrete at least four inches thick, or brick pavers. Minimum width is twelve feet, and a circular drive in front of the house must be at least eight feet. Every fireplace chimney is masonry.

Paragraph 17 - Driveways and Chimneys
Conditional

Running a business from home

A home occupation is allowed if it involves only a member of the immediate family living in the house, stays entirely within the house, is clearly incidental and secondary to living there and does not change the character of the dwelling - with no sign or display indicating the building is used for anything but a home, and the further conditions the paragraph lists. Every lot is otherwise restricted to single-family residential use.

Paragraph 6 - Land Use
Not stated

Short-term rentals (Airbnb)

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 →
✗ Not allowed

Vehicle repair in the driveway

Stored vehicles, and vehicles that are obviously inoperable or do not carry a current operating licence, are not permitted anywhere in the subdivision except inside an enclosed garage.

Paragraph 26 - Recreational and Commercial Vehicles
Conditional

Trash & recycling containers

No lot is a dumping ground. Trash, garbage, refuse, weeds and lawn clippings go in sanitary containers, and between pickups the containers may NOT be visible from the street. Containers may go to the curb no more than 24 hours before pickup and have to be back within 24 hours after. Compost piles are allowed but must be in a confined area and kept sanitary. Fuel tanks are the strictest item here: no oil or fuel storage tank may be installed above ground, underground, inside the house, basement or attached garage, or under an approved outbuilding, without the committee's written approval - and that approval requires a plan reviewed by the committee AND the Harris Township Fire Department, a St. Joseph County building permit, and notifying the fire department of the tank's location once it is in use.

Paragraphs 20 and 23 - Garbage and Refuse Disposal, Fuel Storage Tanks
Conditional

Grilling & outdoor cooking

Unusually permissive and unusually specific. Recreational fires ARE allowed, burning wood only. The fire has to be properly controlled, reasonable for the weather, ATTENDED at all times, not a nuisance to the neighbourhood, and in accordance with local ordinance - and it must be totally enclosed in a quarter-inch mesh burning container or a purpose-built fire pit on your own lot. Nothing non-natural may ever be burned, and no fire may burn on a street or roadway.

Paragraph 29 - Fires
Not stated

Clotheslines

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 →
Not stated

Flags & flagpoles

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 →
Not stated

Window coverings & decorations

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 →

Where these answers come from

The documentProtective Restrictions, Covenants, Limitations and Easements for Quail Ridge at Knollwood, Sections One and Two, Harris Township, St. Joseph County, Indiana
Recorded asSection 1 plat recorded 22 July 1981 as instrument 8112812, lots 1 through 20 and 50 through 66
Section Two plat recorded 21 July 1982 as instrument 8210814, lots 21 through 49
Original developer: Adams Road Development Corp.
Additional Protective Restrictions govern the LAKE LOTS in Quail Ridge at Knollwood South Sections Seven, Nine and Ten
How it was readRead directly from the document’s own text.
Checked againstthe restrictions were read with the association's by-laws and its HOA disclosure document; three other documents in the file belonging to the separate Quail Ridge at Knollwood 2 and Quail Ridge at Knollwood South neighborhoods were excluded
The associationQuail Ridge at Knollwood Homeowners Association, Inc. - the covenants call it QRHA. It is a not-for-profit that exists to promote the general welfare of owners and an attractive neighbourhood appearance, and it may own land as a common area. The board appoints the three-member architectural control committee (QRACC) from association members in good standing, and a committee decision can be appealed to the full board. The association also has real teeth on maintenance: if an owner lets a lot go, it gives notice and a fourteen-day cure period, then may enter and mow, clean or repair the lot and bill the owner. There is a written grievance resolution process. Ask the association for the current assessment.

Ask us about Quail Ridge at Knollwood

Tell us the question and we will get you the answer from the recorded documents.

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