What the recorded documents actually say about Reverewood Section T in Mishawaka — fences, sheds, pools, pets, parking and the rest — with the part of the document each answer comes from.
16 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 the Amended and Restated Declaration of Covenants and Restrictions for Portage Realty's Reverewood Addition Phase III, Section T, Second Replat, recorded in St. Joseph County on April 29, 2020 as instrument 2020-10487. It replaced the original 2007 declaration for this section, instrument 0714897, which is not in the file here; if you need to see what changed, the Recorder has both.
It governs the lots listed in its own Exhibit A, and that list is specific: lots 607A through 623A, lot 633A, lots 677A through 686A, lots 688A and 689A, lot 696A, and lots 698B through 701B, all on the Second Replat plat recorded February 15, 2019 and re-recorded July 30, 2019. Reverewood is a large addition with several phases and sections, and this declaration speaks only for the lots above. If your lot is in Reverewood but not on that list, a different recorded declaration governs it and these answers may not describe your rules.
The recorded copy on file is a scan of paper, so individual words can be misread, and every answer here quotes the document's own wording so you can judge it yourself. The declaration runs to twenty-seven numbered paragraphs with no gaps, so nothing appears to be missing from the copy. Assessment amounts and committee standards change over time. Confirm current figures and any architectural guidelines with the association, and confirm the recorded documents that run with your particular lot through the title company.
Fencing is allowed only around the rear lot perimeter. A white vinyl fence may not exceed six feet and a wrought-iron-style aluminum fence may not exceed five feet. Any other rear-perimeter fencing has to be approved in advance and in writing by the architectural control committee.
Storage sheds need the committee's approval. The declaration states the prohibition and the exception in one sentence and sets no size, material or placement standard for an approved shed, so the terms are whatever the committee sets.
Two paragraphs reach recreational vehicles. One says a recreational vehicle, boat, trailer or motor home may not be placed for storage or repair on the exterior of a lot or on the streets. The other gives a time allowance: mobile homes, recreation vehicles, house trailers, boats, boat trailers, motor homes and camping trailers may not be parked on a lot for longer than twenty-four hours, and the same twenty-four-hour limit applies to snowmobiles, motorcycles and dune buggies. The storage ban is written as reaching the exterior of the lot and the streets, and the declaration does not say anything either way about a vehicle kept inside a closed garage.
In-ground pools are permitted. Above-ground pools are not, and neither are tennis courts. Hot tubs are permitted on the patio area of a home, with the location approved by the architectural control committee.
Nothing may be erected, placed, maintained or altered on a lot, and the natural topography or drainage may not be changed, until the architectural and landscape control committee has approved the plans in writing. Two complete sets of plans go in, showing floor plan, quality of construction, materials, outside colors, harmony of external design with existing structures, location relative to lot lines, topography, finish grade elevations and the landscaping details. One set is kept and one returned. No deviation from approved plans is allowed without the committee's prior written consent, and the declaration says the committee's decision is entirely within its discretion.
Twenty inches in diameter is the line the declaration draws. An above-ground television or satellite dish exceeding twenty inches, and AM, FM or short-wave radio antennas of any type, are not to be erected or maintained unless properly hidden from view at the discretion of the architectural control committee. Federal rules limit how far a covenant like this can be enforced against a small dish, so it is worth confirming the association's current position before you rely 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 →A landscaping plan is part of what the architectural and landscape control committee approves before work starts, and the plans submitted have to show all details regarding landscaping. Separately, every lot with a house on it starts with a sodded front yard and side yard, and a back yard that is either sodded or seeded.
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 ordinary household pets are allowed, as long as they are not kept, bred or maintained for any commercial purpose. Livestock, poultry and pigeons may not be raised, bred or kept. Dogs and cats cannot be housed or regularly kept outside the house, and pets go outdoors only on a leash or other restraint and attended by the owner. The owner is fully liable for any injury or damage to people or property, including in the common areas. The declaration sets no numeric limit on how many pets a household may have.
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 →One sign of not more than six square feet advertising the property for sale is allowed. A builder may use a sign of any size during the construction and sales period, and the board reserves its own right to put up signs to promote sales in the development. Any other sign displayed to public view from a lot falls outside what this paragraph permits.
Trucks, automobiles, recreational vehicles, boats, trailers, motor homes and commercial or industrial equipment may not be placed for storage or repair on the exterior of a lot or on the streets of the subdivision. Recreational vehicles, boats, trailers and the like may not be parked on a lot longer than twenty-four hours, and the same twenty-four-hour limit covers snowmobiles, motorcycles and dune buggies. Every house has to have a full-size attached garage holding at least two and no more than three cars. Ordinary day-to-day parking of a resident's own car is not itself addressed.
A home occupation is permitted, but the declaration draws it narrowly. It has to be conducted entirely inside the house, by a member of the immediate family living there, and be clearly incidental and secondary to living there. There may be no exterior sign or display, no commodity sold on the lot, no employee other than a family member living there, no activity that requires off-street parking under local codes, and no mechanical or electrical equipment used. The declaration also names trades that can never count as a home occupation, among them a vehicle repair shop, a barber shop, a styling salon, a massage parlor, an animal hospital and animal trimming or grooming.
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 storage paragraph names repair directly: a truck, automobile, recreational vehicle, boat, trailer or motor home may not be placed for storage or repair on the exterior of a lot or on the streets of the subdivision. A separate sentence says no lot may be used for the storage of old lumber, cars, materials or debris. The ban is written as reaching the exterior of the lot and the streets, and the declaration does not address work done inside a closed garage.
Trash, garbage and other waste goes in appropriate residential containers, and those containers are stored inside except on trash pick-up days. Containers have to be kept clean and sanitary, and no lot may be used as a dumping ground for rubbish, trash or junk.
The fires paragraph is written broadly. It bars any fire for vegetation, trash burning or otherwise from burning on a lot, street, sidewalk or roadway. Because of the words or otherwise, a charcoal or wood fire is caught by it on the face of that wording. The declaration never names a grill, and a gas grill may be a different question. If you plan to cook outdoors regularly, it is worth getting the association's position in writing.
What the declaration bars is a permanent structure for hanging laundry, rugs or other items outside the house. A removable or temporary drying rack is not addressed either way, so a homeowner who wants certainty on one should ask 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 →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.