What the recorded documents actually say about Summerfield in Mishawaka — fences, sheds, pools, pets, parking and the rest — with the part of the document each answer comes from.
11 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 two recorded instruments that work together, both filed with the St. Joseph County Recorder and both from the same developer.
The first is the Declaration of Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions for Summerfield, dated November 10, 1987 and recorded as instrument 8738598, together with an amendment to it dated February 11, 1988 that rewrote the definition of common area and the assessment paragraph. The second is the set of covenants printed on the recorded plat, headed Summerfield of Mishawaka, Phases I and II, recorded as instrument 8738599, together with a surveyor's correction certified February 17, 1988 that deleted the streets paragraph from the plat covenants, fixed two typographical errors in the dwelling requirements, and rewrote the water and sewage paragraph to except the existing private sanitary sewer system serving Summerfield. The plat covenants state on their face that they are further subject to the declaration, so where both speak, both apply.
Between them these two documents cover the ninety numbered lots in Phase 1 and Phase II. The declaration describes Phase 1 as forty-four lots, numbered 1 through 15 and 62 through 90, and Phase II as forty-six lots, numbered 16 through 61. If a later section of Summerfield was platted after 1988, its own plat covenants are not in this collection and have not been read here.
Everything on this page is a 1987 or 1988 document. An association can adopt rules and regulations of its own that are not recorded, and none are on file here, so ask the association for its current rule sheet as well as for the recorded documents. The declaration that runs with your lot is a public record at the St. Joseph County Recorder, and a title company can normally name it from your legal description.
Two recorded documents both reach fences and both have to be satisfied. The plat covenants bar any fence between the front building line and the front property line, and on a corner lot between the side building line and the side property line. The declaration requires the Development Control Committee to approve fencing in advance, in writing, before it is built or placed. A corner-lot sight-line rule separately bars any fence, wall, hedge or shrub between two and six feet above the street inside the triangle formed twenty-five feet back from the intersection, and within ten feet of a driveway. On the lots built as patio units, no fence at all may go in the patio area, other than one the developer installed, without the written consent of the Development Control Committee.
The declaration prohibits detached storage sheds and tool sheds of any kind, along with trailers, shacks and outhouses, anywhere on a lot. The only exception is a temporary structure a builder uses during construction of the house, which has to be removed as soon as the house is finished. A companion paragraph closes the alternatives: no garage may be built that is not permanently attached to the residence, no unenclosed storage area may be maintained, and no enclosed storage area may be built that is not permanently attached to the residence or to the attached garage. So a freestanding backyard shed is prohibited on the face of this document.
A boat, trailer, camper or motor home of any kind may be kept on a lot only inside a garage or another approved structure. The plat covenants name house trailers, camper trailers and boat trailers as examples and say none of them may be kept or parked on the lot except within a garage or other approved structure, so the document does name a permitted place rather than banning the vehicle outright. It does not say who approves another structure or what would qualify, and the declaration separately prohibits any detached building, which narrows the alternatives to the attached garage in practice. The same paragraph limits what may be regularly parked in residential areas to passenger cars, station wagons and small trucks such as pickups and vans.
Above-ground swimming pools are prohibited outright. The documents do not prohibit an in-ground pool, and they do not set any pool-specific standard for one either, but a pool is an improvement, so the declaration requires the Development Control Committee to approve the plans in advance and in writing before it goes in. The committee has fifteen days to answer once it has everything it asked for, and a refusal has to state its reasons.
Nothing gets built, placed or altered on a lot without prior approval. The declaration requires written application to the Development Control Committee for any dwelling, building, structure, fencing or improvement of any type or kind, landscaping excepted, and the committee may demand plans and specifications, a plot plan showing what is there and what is proposed, and the color and composition of every exterior material. It may refuse if the submission is incomplete, if the design or color scheme is out of harmony with the surroundings or with neighboring buildings including trim, siding, roof and brick colors, or if in its reasonable judgment the work would be contrary to the interests, welfare or rights of other owners. It answers within fifteen days of getting everything and must give reasons for a refusal. The plat covenants say the same thing in shorter form and add that if no written answer comes within ten working days the plans are deemed approved, which is a different clock from the declaration and the documents do not reconcile the two. Three specific exterior rules sit alongside: gutters and downspouts must be painted or a colored material other than grey galvanized; metal, fiberglass and similar awnings and patio covers are prohibited; and modular homes are not permitted.
The declaration prohibits satellite dishes in the subdivision, in one flat sentence with no size limit and no approval route. A conventional antenna is treated differently and is allowed, so long as it does not rise more than five feet above the roof peak. This is a 1987 document and the rules that govern dish antennas have changed a great deal since; before you rely on the ban either way, ask the association what it actually enforces today and get the answer in writing.
Solar panels are addressed directly, which is unusual for a document of this age. Panels may not go on the roof of any structure. Where panels are installed, the declaration says they will be enclosed within a fenced area and concealed from the view of neighboring lots and the streets. So a ground-mounted, screened array is what the wording contemplates and a roof array is not. Any such installation is also an improvement, so the Development Control Committee has to approve it in advance.
Landscaping is the one thing the declaration carves out of the approval requirement: the clause that puts every improvement in front of the Development Control Committee says in parentheses that it excludes landscaping. The committee may still require a plan submitted for other work to show any proposed landscaping. Two limits do bite. The corner-lot sight-line rule bars a hedge or shrub planting between two and six feet above the street inside the sight triangle and within ten feet of a driveway, and no tree may remain in those spots unless its foliage is kept high enough not to block the sight line. Common area landscaping, street landscaping and the entrance features are the association's, not the owner's, and the assessments cover fertilizing and weed control on them.
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 may be kept. What is prohibited is raising, breeding or keeping animals, livestock or poultry of any kind beyond that, and keeping, breeding or maintaining even a household pet for any commercial purpose. The documents set no limit on the number of pets, no leash rule and no breed or weight restriction, and they say nothing about a kennel or a dog run, though a run with a fence would be an improvement needing committee approval.
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 →Neither document names a basketball hoop, and there is no height, placement or colour standard written down for one. What the declaration does say is that no improvement of any type or kind may be constructed or placed on a lot without the Development Control Committee approving it first in writing, and the plat covenants say no structure of any kind may be erected or altered until plans have been submitted and approved. A pole-mounted hoop set in the ground would ordinarily be read as falling inside that, and a portable hoop that is not fixed to anything is not addressed either way. Ask the committee before you install one.
No sign of any kind may be displayed to public view on a lot, with two exceptions. One temporary sign of not more than twelve square feet advertising the property for sale or rent is allowed. So are signs a builder uses to advertise the property during the construction and sales period. The plat covenants set no rule for political signs, holiday displays or any other category, so anything outside those two exceptions falls under the general ban as the document is written.
Every motor vehicle belonging to a member of the household must have a permanent parking space in a garage or a driveway, and no disabled vehicle may be openly stored on a residential lot. Only passenger cars, station wagons and small trucks, which the document defines as pickups and vans, may be regularly parked in residential areas. Boats, trailers, campers and motor homes are handled separately and have to be inside a garage or another approved structure. The plat covenants say nothing about parking on the street itself, and they set no guest or overnight rule.
Neither document uses the words home business, home office or home occupation, so there is no written permission and no written procedure. What they do say is that all numbered lots in the addition are designated residential lots, and that no noxious or offensive trade may be carried on upon any lot, nor anything that becomes a nuisance to the neighborhood. Two other clauses bear on how a business would show: the sign ban leaves no room for business signage, and pets may not be kept or maintained for any commercial purpose. Quiet work inside the house is not addressed one way or the other; anything with traffic, signage or an outdoor component runs into the residential designation. Ask the association where it draws the line.
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 →Garbage cans, along with lawn equipment, wood piles and storage piles, must be kept out of view of neighboring residences and the streets. Any rubbish, trash or garbage stored outside the house has to be removed from the property regularly and may not be allowed to pile up. The documents name no collection day, no container type and no screening method, so how you keep a can out of sight is left to the owner.
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 →Clothes lines are allowed but placed twice over. The plat covenants require them to be kept out of view of neighboring residences and the streets, and then say flatly that all clothes lines are to be confined to patio areas. So a line strung across the open back yard is outside what the document permits, and one in the patio area screened from the neighbours and the street is what it contemplates.
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.