What the recorded documents actually say about Sherwood Forest in Granger — fences, sheds, pools, pets, parking and the rest — with the part of the document each answer comes from.
6 homes have sold here in the last four years, which is why this neighborhood was compiled early.
Before you rely on this page
BUILT ON THE SEPTEMBER 2022 AMENDMENTS, and that matters more here than usual because three answers flipped. The old covenants banned satellite dishes and antennas outright; the 2022 text permits them and only requires the lines be hidden as far as practical. The old text barred every camper, trailer and boat from being kept outside; the 2022 text bars OVERSIZED ones, without defining oversized. And signs and flags went from a single five-square-foot for-sale sign to a general permission with a content and safety standard. Anyone reading a pre-2022 copy of these covenants will get all three backwards. Note also that Sherwood Forest is on SEPTIC - each house carries its own system, approved by the county, so budget an inspection into any offer.
There is no general fence rule here - no split-rail requirement, no height cap, no material list, which is unusual for the area. Two limits do apply. A lot with a pool needs a privacy or security fence at least four feet high that completely surrounds the pool area and can be locked, unless the pool is in-ground with a compliant power safety cover. And on a corner lot no fence, wall, hedge or shrub between two and six feet above the roadway may block the sight triangle. Because the covenant is silent otherwise, ask the board what it has approved before you build.
Tightened in 2022, and the sequence matters. A detached building for lawn tools, toys, pool equipment or other personal property must be quality construction, kept attractive and neat, and located in the REAR YARD. The board must approve the location BEFORE it is installed - and if you put one up without that approval, the board has the express power to make you MOVE IT to an approved location, as well as to require protective screening around it. No trailer, camper, tent, shack, garage, barn or other outbuilding may be lived in at any time.
The 2022 amendment softened this, and the change is worth knowing. The original barred all campers, recreational vehicles, trailers, boats and junk cars from being kept outside the residence. The amended paragraph bars OVERSIZED campers, recreational vehicles and oversized trailers, plus boats and junk cars - anything caught has to be kept inside a structure or outside the development. The covenant does not define oversized, so ask the board where it draws that line before you buy with a camper in mind. A separate line was added: no vehicle or trailer of any kind may park on the grass or in the yard of any lot.
The 2022 amendment wrote a full pool and hot tub rule where the original just banned above-ground pools. Pools and hot tubs must be quality construction, attractive and neat, NOT VISIBLE FROM PUBLIC VIEW, kept clean and properly maintained, and compliant with state and county regulation. Any lot with a pool needs a privacy or security fence at least four feet high that completely surrounds the pool area and can be locked - the one exception is an in-ground pool with a power safety cover that meets state and county rules. Two upkeep rules most covenants leave out: a pool or hot tub unused for more than THIRTY DAYS has to be drained or covered, and an abandoned one has to be permanently removed from the lot.
No house may be built until the plans and specifications are approved in writing, and no building sits closer than eight feet to a side line, with the two side yards totalling at least twenty feet, or closer than forty feet to the rear line. Minimum floor area runs from 1,450 square feet for a ranch to 1,850 for a bi-level, with bi-level and some other styles permitted only on specified terrain and only in writing. Every house has a full-size attached garage for two to three cars and at least one front-yard light on an electric eye or timer. Construction has to start within two years of taking title and finish within one year of breaking ground, or the structure comes down.
The 2022 amendment reversed the old rule, so an older copy of these covenants will tell you the wrong thing. Antennas, satellite dishes and similar signal equipment that need to be attached to the house or the property ARE contemplated and permitted - the requirement is that the LINES be affixed to the dwelling and kept out of sight to the fullest extent possible. All telephone and other public utility service runs underground, and street and lot lighting sits on posts with no visible lines.
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 →Side and front yards are planted with grass seed or sod within 120 days of the house being finished or occupied, whichever is earlier. Nothing permanent may be built on the platted easements, and the grading of a drainage swale may not be changed. On a corner lot nothing between two and six feet above the roadway may block the sight triangle.
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 other household pets are allowed, as long as none is kept, bred or maintained commercially and none is permitted to become a neighbourhood nuisance or hazard. Livestock and poultry may not be raised, bred or kept.
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 →Rewritten in 2022 and now among the most permissive in the directory. Signs AND FLAGS are permitted, subject to three conditions: they stay respectful and carry no profanity or foul messages, they create no obstruction or safety hazard, and they are displayed within your own property lines. In an election year, political signs and flags follow Indiana Code 32-21-13 and may be displayed from thirty days before the election until five days after it, under the same three conditions.
Driveways must run complete and all the way to the curb, built of asphalt at least FOUR inches thick or of concrete. Stone and cinder driveways are not permitted. A circular drive in front of the house may be as narrow as nine feet. No vehicle or trailer of any kind may park on the grass or in the yard.
Every lot is restricted to use as a single-family residence, with a home occupation the one exception - it has to be conducted within the house and engaged in solely by a member of the immediate family living there, and no sign or display may indicate from the outside that the building is being used for anything other than a dwelling.
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 →Junk cars are named alongside boats and oversized campers as things that may not be kept outside the residence - they have to be inside a structure or outside the development altogether. And no vehicle or trailer of any kind may sit on the grass or in the yard, which closes the usual spot for a project car.
No lot is used as a dumping ground for rubbish. Trash, garbage and other waste go in sanitary containers, and the containers themselves, along with any incinerator or storage equipment, are kept clean and sanitary. Oil and fuel storage tanks go underground or are concealed inside the house, the basement or the attached garage.
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 →Flags are expressly permitted, and the covenant treats them alongside signs: respectful, no profanity or foul messaging, no obstruction or safety hazard, and displayed within your own property limits. Political flags in an election year follow Indiana Code 32-21-13 and the thirty-days-before to five-days-after window.
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.