What the recorded documents actually say about Rolling Oaks Country Estates 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
THIS IS SECTION FIVE ONLY - lots 19 through 36 and 38 through 45. Earlier sections of Rolling Oaks Country Estates were platted separately and are very likely governed by their own recorded covenants with different rules, so check which section your lot sits in before relying on this page. Two rules here run the opposite way from most Michiana covenants and are the reason to read it: a six-foot fence is allowed anywhere behind the front foundation line with no material restriction, and a boat or camper under 35 feet may be parked on the lot. In exchange, a storage shed is capped at 100 square feet and confined to the back half of the lot, and even the dog house has to sit within ten feet of the house.
More generous than most covenants in the county. A fence up to SIX FEET may be built on a lot, with no material restriction stated and no split-rail requirement - the one condition is that it may not extend forward past the front foundation line of the house. Hedges, shrubbery and trees are expressly not restricted by that paragraph. A pool, once installed, has to have appropriate fencing.
A detached storage building is allowed with real limits on it. It must be quality construction, kept attractive and neat, and match the decor of the house; no storage shed may exceed ONE HUNDRED SQUARE FEET of outside area; and it has to be built in the rear half of the lot. Placement and construction go to the architectural control committee, which can approve or refuse. No trailer, basement, tent, shack, garage, barn, tool shed or other outbuilding may be used on a homesite at any time, temporarily or permanently, except a construction trailer while the house is being built.
A length limit rather than a flat ban, which is rare around here and worth knowing. Boats, boat trailers, motorhomes, camping trailers, recreational vehicles and their trailers OVER 35 FEET are prohibited outright. Anything under 35 feet may be parked on a lot, as long as it is not placed so as to make the lot unsightly in appearance and character - and the covenant leaves that judgement to the committee, so it is a discretionary standard rather than a measured one. Semi-tractors and trailers, school buses, modular homes, mobile homes and house trailers are prohibited.
Swimming pools may be built on any lot, but only after prior WRITTEN approval from the architectural control committee - and once installed the pool has to have appropriate fencing. The covenant does not distinguish above-ground from in-ground, which most nearby covenants do by banning above-ground outright, so ask the committee which it will approve.
No house may be built until the BUILDER, the plans, the specifications AND the exterior colours have all been approved in writing by the architectural control committee - note that the committee approves who builds it, not just what gets built, which is unusual. The committee is two people appointed by the developer. Every lot with a house on it carries a dusk-to-dawn electric light of a committee-approved type, in front of the front setback line. Lots are restricted to private single-family residential use, though an owner of more than one lot is not required to put a house on the second one.
Antennas are banned but ONE dish is expressly allowed. No above-ground television, AM, FM or short-wave radio antenna, earth receiving station or transmitting station may go on a homesite or a structure. Each owner may have no more than one satellite dish for electronic signal reception - it may not be placed in the front or the side yard, and both the placement and the SIZE have to be approved by the architectural control committee before it goes up.
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 →Roadside ditches and drainage swales, whether next to the road or along the property lines, are built to St. Joseph County specification and MAY NOT BE FILLED IN. Where the county highway department requires a culvert, the homeowner installs it, maintains it and keeps it clear so surface water runs freely - that is the owner's cost, not the county's.
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 placement rule most covenants leave out: any dog house or other pet structure must have one wall within TEN FEET of the rear wall of the house - so a kennel at the back of the lot is not permitted. Like the storage buildings, it goes to the architectural control committee for approval of placement and construction.
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 no more than five square feet advertising the property for sale, plus a builder's sign of any size during the construction and sales period.
Driveways have to be at least SIXTEEN feet wide - wider than the twelve most of the county requires - and asphalt at least three inches thick or concrete at least four inches. Stone and cinder driveways are not permitted. A circular drive in front of the house has to be at least eight feet wide. A boat or camper under 35 feet may be parked on the lot if it does not make the lot unsightly.
A home occupation is allowed if it is carried on entirely inside the house and stays clearly secondary to living there, with no sign or display visible from outside, no commodity sold on the premises, and nobody employed from outside the immediate family living there. Anything beyond that is not a permitted use - every lot is restricted to single-family residential use.
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 homesite is used or maintained as a dumping ground for rubbish. Trash, garbage and other waste go in sanitary containers, and any incinerator or storage equipment is kept clean and sanitary.
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 →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.