What the recorded documents actually say about Savannah Pass at the Forest in Mishawaka — fences, sheds, pools, pets, parking and the rest — with the part of the document each answer comes from.
20 homes have sold here in the last four years, which is why this neighborhood was compiled early.
Before you rely on this page
Savannah Pass at the Forest is three developments under one association: Savannah Pass Town Home Condominium, Savannah Pass Villas and Savannah Pass Courtyard Villas. Each has its own recorded declaration. The answers on this page are read from the Amended Declaration for Savannah Pass Villas, dated January 1, 2005, which is the one covering the most homes.
The reason one page can answer for all three is that the declarations say so themselves. The Villas declaration applies its restrictions not only to the Villas lots but expressly to the property encompassed in the Savannah Pass Town Homes and the Savannah Pass Courtyard Villas developments, clause by clause. The Courtyard Villas declaration, recorded in March 2005, carries the same restrictions in the same words, re-lettered, and so does the use restrictions article in the association by-laws that came out of the Town Home condominium. All three were read and compared, and no restriction on this page differs between them.
The lot descriptions are genuinely confusing, because the land was re-platted four times and lot numbers repeat across replats. The Villas declaration covers Lots 44 through 53 and 58 through 79 of the First Replat, Lots 86 through 101 of the Second Replat, and Lots 54 through 57, 80 and 81 of the Fourth Replat. The Courtyard Villas declaration covers Lots 82B, 83D and 84 of the Fourth Replat. The Town Home condominium covers Lots 80 through 84 of the original plat. A lot number on its own will not tell you which one governs your home, so ask the title company which declaration is recorded against the parcel.
The recording number of the declaration that governs. The scan most often attached to a sale here has a recorder's stamp that did not come through legibly, so that copy on its own will not tell you the instrument number. A second copy of the same January 1, 2005 declaration is also on file, printed from the county's title records, and it carries the recorder's document reference on all twelve of its pages as 2005.5567, which St. Joseph County writes as Instrument No. 0505567. That is the number to give a title company, or to use at the Recorder's office, if you want to pull the recorded document yourself. The recording dates and numbers of the plats it refers to are legible and are listed with the source.
One further point on which document sits on your lot. An earlier declaration for these villas, recorded in December 2001, described its property as Lots 1 through 79 of that first replat, and the 2005 amended declaration that governs lists a narrower set of lots. Both were read and their restrictions run paragraph for paragraph in the same words, so the answers on this page should hold whichever of the two is recorded against a particular parcel. The title company can tell you which one that is.
Because the recorded copies are scans of paper rather than digital text, they were read by optical character recognition, so nothing here is presented as a direct quote from the summary. The verbatim wording sits beside each answer.
The word fence does not appear anywhere in these covenants. What they say instead is broader: no building or any other structure may be erected, altered, placed or permitted to remain on a lot by anyone other than the developer or its successors and assigns. A fence is a structure, so on that wording it is not something an owner puts up on their own. A separate paragraph bars anything at all being affixed to or placed on exterior walls or roofs without the Board's prior consent. If you want a fence, the Board is the only route, and the recorded documents do not describe one, so get the answer in writing before you buy on the strength of it.
Sheds run into the same paragraph as fences. No building or any other structure may be erected, altered, placed or permitted to remain on a lot by anyone other than the developer or its successors and assigns. The covenants name no exception and describe no approval process for an owner-built outbuilding. This is a maintenance-provided villa and townhome community, and the restriction reads as written for that.
Boats, campers, trailers of any kind, buses, mobile homes, commercial trucks, motorcycles, mini bikes, mopeds and any vehicle other than a normal passenger vehicle may not be permitted, parked or stored anywhere within the property. The same sentence then says that nothing in the paragraph prevents parking or storing those vehicles completely enclosed within a garage. So the covenants expressly contemplate a camper or boat being kept here, inside a closed garage. Whether yours fits is a question about the garage, not about the covenants.
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 →Nothing may be hung or displayed on the outside of windows or placed on the outside walls, and no sign, awning, canopy, shutter, radio or television antenna, or any other attachment or thing may be affixed to or placed upon exterior walls, roofs or any other part of a unit, without the prior consent of the Board. Separately, nothing may be done in a unit that would impair the structural integrity of a building or affect the exterior appearance of a unit. Between those two paragraphs and the bar on erecting any structure, the practical position is that visible exterior changes go to the Board first. The covenants describe no application form, timetable or standard for that consent, so ask the Board how it handles requests.
A radio or television antenna is named among the things that may not be affixed to or placed upon exterior walls, roofs or any other part of a unit without the prior consent of the Board. The covenants were written before satellite dishes were common and they do not use the word dish, do not set a size limit, and do not describe how consent is sought or on what grounds it may be refused. If reception matters to you, ask the Board what it currently allows and get it in writing.
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 →An owner may not plant trees, landscape or do any gardening anywhere in the property except with the express permission of the Board. The developer was excepted from that. Landscaping upkeep for the whole community is one of the things assessments pay for, so the grounds are the association's responsibility rather than yours. If you are the kind of buyer who wants to put in beds or change the planting around your home, this is a paragraph to read carefully and to raise with the Board before you buy.
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 →Pet dogs, cats and customary household pets may be kept in a unit, provided they are not kept, bred or maintained for a commercial purpose and do not create a nuisance. Animals, livestock and poultry of any other kind may not be kept. Pets may not be staked or chained, and may not be anywhere in the community unless carried or leashed and accompanied by an adult. Each owner cleans up after their pet, and the covenants say a breach of those requirements counts as causing a nuisance. An owner is fully liable for injury or damage caused by their pet. If the Board judges a pet to be causing a nuisance or unreasonable disturbance or noise, or to be in violation of this section, the pet must be permanently removed within ten days of written notice.
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 →For sale, for rent and for lease signs, any other sign, and any other window or advertising display, may not be maintained or permitted anywhere on the property without the prior written consent of the Board. The developer kept a right to place signs in connection with unsold or unoccupied portions. There is no automatic allowance for a small for-sale sign the way many declarations give one, so if you are selling here, ask the Board first.
All vehicles must be parked either within the unit's enclosed garage, if it has one, or on the street as local law allows. The covenants then carve out vehicles temporarily parked overnight for not more than seven consecutive nights, which the parking sentence does not apply to. Anything other than a normal passenger vehicle, including commercial trucks, motorcycles, mini bikes and mopeds, may not be parked or stored anywhere in the community unless completely enclosed in a garage. Agents and employees of the declarant and of the association are outside the paragraph.
The covenants bar commercial activity broadly and they do not define or carve out a permitted home occupation. No industry, trade or other commercial activity, educational or otherwise, designed for profit or otherwise, may be conducted, practiced or permitted in the property or in either of the other two developments. Only the developer's own activities were excepted. If you intend to run anything from the home, ask the Board how it reads this paragraph before you commit.
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 →These covenants address vehicle repair directly rather than by way of a storage rule, which is unusual. No repair work may be done on any vehicle anywhere in the community, passenger cars included, unless it is done in an enclosed garage. So working on your own car is contemplated, but not in the driveway or on the street.
Garbage, trash and refuse must be stored in appropriate containers inside the garage of the unit and kept there until no earlier than sundown of the evening before scheduled collection. It goes out in sealed disposable plastic bags or other containers the Board has approved, and it is placed at whatever collection points the Board designates rather than simply at your own curb. The community is also required generally to be kept free and clear of rubbish, debris and other unsightly materials.
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 →Nothing may be hung out or exposed where it is visible from any part of the community. The covenants name cloths, sheets, blankets, rugs and laundry, and then add or other things, so the restriction is wider than a clothesline. A separate paragraph bars hanging or displaying anything on the outside of windows or on exterior walls without the Board's consent.
Flags are named. Items including structures, ornaments, decorations, displays, sculptures, models, flags and banners may not be stored or displayed anywhere in the community, and then the same paragraph says those items may be displayed if the owner obtains advance written consent from the Board. The covenants add that the consent may be withdrawn at any time without notice, so a permission granted is not stated to be permanent. If flying a flag matters to you, ask the Board what it currently permits and get the answer in writing.
Nothing may be hung or displayed on the outside of the windows without the prior consent of the Board. Window displays are reached from a second direction as well: the signs paragraph bars any window or advertising display anywhere on the property without the Board's prior written consent. The covenants do not address what you put on the inside of a window where it happens to be visible from outside, so that edge is not settled by the recorded text.
Tell us the question and we will get you the answer from the recorded documents.