What the recorded documents actually say about Shepherd's Cove in Osceola — 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
TWO RECORDED SETS, AND THEY ARE NOT IDENTICAL - check which section your lot is in. Sections IV, V and VI (2020): minimum 1,450 square feet on a ranch and 2,000 on a two-storey, dues capped at $75, no fuel storage on a lot at all, and a dish allowed roof-mounted or screened. Section One: minimum 1,200 and 1,600, dues capped at $200, fuel tanks underground or concealed, and a dish screened with shrubbery only. Corner lots in the newer sections are exempt from the size minimums and go to the developer instead. The neighbouring Villa's @ Shepherd's Cove is a separate plat and its own recorded covenant is not on file here, so nothing on this page should be read as covering it. The Section One document on file is itself a later amendment - it recites a First Amendment recorded 2001-06-26 as document 0129700 and a Second Amendment recorded 2001-08-01 as document 0137394 against the original declaration of 2001-01-26, document 0104077 - so the Section One figures on this page come from the amended text, not the original.
The only perimeter fencing allowed is split rail, no more than four feet high, of the type the developer used throughout the addition - or a privacy fence of no more than six feet that matches the architectural standard set by the style of the house. Anything else needs a written variance from the developer. On a corner lot nothing between two and six feet above the roadway may block the sight triangle, and a screen planting in front of the building line may not stand over thirty-six inches.
A detached storage structure for lawn tools, toys or pool equipment has to be quality construction, kept neat and blend with the established home, and the developer can require screening around it. No trailer, tent, shack, garage, barn or other outbuilding may be lived in.
One of the strictest vehicle clauses in the county. No recreational or commercial vehicle of any sort may be kept in an open area anywhere in the subdivision, on a lot or off it, or in any street, easement or right-of-way - and the covenant defines recreational vehicle broadly enough to catch trailers, campers, fifth wheels, aircraft, boats, motorcycles, mopeds and motorised scooters. No part of the subdivision may be used to store or display one for sale. Using an unregistered or unlicensed vehicle on any road or easement here is prohibited and the covenant says it will be reported to the county.
An in-ground pool is permitted as long as a privacy fence goes in with it and both are kept neat and blend with the house. An above-ground pool is not allowed unless the developer approves it in writing.
Nothing may be built, placed or altered on a lot until the developer approves the construction plans. Two full sets of prints go in, showing floor plan, quality of construction materials, exterior design, and placement against the lot lines, topography and finish grade; one set comes back, and the approval or refusal is in writing. Anything begun has to be finished inside and out within a year or be removed completely - including backfilling and reseeding the hole. Every house needs a full-size attached garage for two to three cars.
A small dish of no more than 24 inches is allowed if it is hidden as well as possible behind shrubbery, or roof-mounted. Outside above-ground communication, television, AM, FM, CB and short-wave antennas, and large satellite dishes, are barred. All utility service runs underground. Federal rules on over-the-air reception devices protect a dish under one meter on property in your own exclusive use and control, which is larger than 24 inches, so ask the association how the two fit together before you buy a bigger dish.
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 garden clause here, and it is unusually specific. A private herb or produce garden is allowed, but it may not exceed one percent of the lot's platted area, it goes in the rearmost fifteen feet, it may not be visible from the street the house faces, and the developer approves its location. No garden at all on a lot without a finished, occupied house, and no selling produce from a street stand. Compost piles and natural fertiliser are prohibited outright, as are noxious or dangerous garden chemicals. Removing a tree more than six inches in caliper needs prior approval. Yards are graded for drainage, seeded or sodded, and landscaped within 120 days of the house being finished or occupied.
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 →Read this one before you move a dog in. No more than two animals per lot. Pets are kept indoors, may not run free, go on a leash on a walk, and the owner cleans up after them; a pet may not be chained or tied outdoors for more than four consecutive daylight hours in a day without the developer's written approval. No exotic animals, and no animal of a breed with a reputation for ferocity - the covenant names pit bull terriers specifically. Livestock and poultry may not be kept, and no pet may be kept for commercial purposes. A request involving a service or assistance animal is handled under fair-housing law rather than by this paragraph, so raise it with the association rather than assuming the breed line settles 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 →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 sign may be displayed to public view except one of no more than five square feet advertising the property for sale or rent, plus a builder's sign of any size during the construction and sales period. The developer keeps the right to put up its own.
Every ordinary car has to be parked on a paved drive or in a garage, and no motor vehicle of any sort may be stored or displayed in an open area of a lot, even temporarily, without the developer's written approval. Driveways are at least sixteen feet wide and built of asphalt at least three inches thick or concrete at least four; stone and cinder are not allowed and a circular drive is at least nine feet wide. Every driveway is lit by a post lamp and kept edged.
A home occupation is allowed if it is carried on entirely inside the house by a member of the immediate family living there and stays clearly secondary to living there, with no sign or display visible from outside, nothing sold on the premises, and nobody employed from outside the immediate family. Named and excluded: a barber shop, styling salon, beauty parlour, massage parlour, tea room, fortune-telling parlour, animal hospital or any animal care such as dog trimming - and, unusually, anything to do with repairing, maintaining, altering or building a motor vehicle or trailer. Selling or displaying goods to the public on a lot is prohibited.
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 →Named outright, which is rare. The storage, sale, construction, modification or extended repair of personal cars, recreational vehicles, boats, aircraft, snowmobiles, motorcycles and motorised tricycles is strictly prohibited, and vehicle work is also excluded from what counts as a permitted home occupation.
No lot may be used as a dumping ground. Trash and garbage have to be kept in sanitary containers, and any incinerator or storage equipment kept clean and sanitary. Fuel storage rules differ between the two recorded section sets, so check yours: Sections IV, V and VI allow no oil or fuel storage on a lot at any time, while Section One requires a tank to be underground or concealed inside the house, basement or attached garage.
A properly contained recreational fire is permitted. Burning construction debris or refuse is not, at any time, anywhere in the subdivision - and burning leaves, rubbish or refuse of any sort, in the open or in a barrel, frame or screen, is prohibited and the covenant says it will be strictly enforced.
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.