What the recorded documents actually say about Sunlit Acres in Goshen — fences, sheds, pools, pets, parking and the rest — with the part of the document each answer comes from.
10 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 one recorded instrument: the Protective Restrictions, Covenants, Limitations and Easements for Sunlit Acres Subdivision Phase 1, in Jefferson Township, Elkhart County, recorded in 1997 under instrument number 97 016977. Its own first page says the restrictions were amended from an original filing dated June 26, 1997. Only the amended version is on file here; the original filing is not.
The title limits it to Phase 1. The legal description attached to it describes a tract of about 99.36 acres in Section 21 of Jefferson Township. Whether later phases of Sunlit Acres were platted, and what governs them, is not something this document answers. If the home you are looking at sits outside Phase 1, it is worth pulling the covenants for its own plat from the Elkhart County Recorder or asking your title company to do it as part of the title search.
Two timing clauses matter and they are easy to miss. The Developer's authority over architectural control is stated to expire fifteen years after recording, and the Developer's involvement in land use and building types is stated to terminate on the same schedule, while all the other restrictions remain in full force. Many of the rules below are written as requiring the written consent of the Developer, so who gives that consent today is a real question this document does not answer. Separately, the covenants run for twenty-five years from recording and then extend automatically in successive ten-year periods unless owners of at least seventy-five percent of the lots vote otherwise, and after the first fifteen years owners of seventy-five percent of the lots may amend them by recording an amendment. Any amendment recorded after 1997 would not be in this file.
There is no homeowners association in this document. It creates none, and it names no board, no common areas and no dues or assessments. Enforcement is placed on the Developer and on each lot owner.
The copy on file is a scan of paper, so every page was also read by eye off the page images rather than trusting the machine reading alone. That mattered: four sections were legible on the images and missing from the machine reading, including the one that governs mailboxes, which would otherwise have been reported here as unaddressed. It is a good reason to read any clause yourself before you rely on it.
Where this page says the document does not address something, that was checked rather than assumed. There is no mention anywhere of an antenna, a satellite dish, solar panels, a clothesline, a flag or flagpole, a basketball hoop, window coverings, renting, short-term renting, or repairing a vehicle. The document does say every dwelling is intended for single family residential use, and it does bar commercial vehicles from the open areas, but it never addresses running a business from a home, so that is left unanswered here rather than stretched out of a clause about something else. The underground-utility rule covers utility service lines rather than anything a homeowner mounts on a house, which is why it is not read as an answer about antennas or dishes.
Fences are limited by where they sit on the lot. In front of the rear building line of the principal structure, the only fence the document allows is a decorative one no more than two feet six inches high, and chain link or wire fence is specifically forbidden there. Behind the principal structure a fence may be up to six feet. The document sets no material standard for that rear fence and states no approval step for a fence on its own terms, though the architectural control paragraph requires the Developer's written approval before any structure is erected or altered and never says whether a fence counts as a structure for that purpose.
Storage sheds, garden sheds, pool or bath houses and any other accessory building are permitted only with the written consent of the Developer. The document adds that such a structure is to be of high quality, built in a workmanlike manner, and kept that way. Moving an existing outbuilding onto a lot also needs written consent. No shed, barn, garage or other outbuilding may be used as a residence at any time. One thing to check before you plan anything: the document says the Developer's architectural control authority expires fifteen years after recording, and it names nobody to take that role over, so who gives this consent today is a question it does not answer.
Campers, trailers, trucks, boats and snowmobiles are all handled in one paragraph. It says no recreational or commercial vehicle may be kept in open areas in the subdivision, whether those open areas are on or off the owner's lot, except at points beyond and behind the rear building line for each lot. So this version of the clause names a place where one may sit, which is behind the rear building line, and bars the open areas in front of it. It does not define what counts as an open area, it sets no time limit for loading or unloading, and it never mentions a garage either way.
The only pool language sits in the building paragraph. It says pool or bath houses and enclosed swimming pools are permitted only with the written consent of the Developer, and that such a structure is to be of high quality and consistently maintained in attractive condition. The document does not separately address an above-ground or unenclosed pool, and it sets no size, fencing or setback standard for a pool. As with the other consent rules here, the Developer's approval role is stated to expire fifteen years after recording and no successor is named.
Exterior work runs through a written approval gate. No building or other structure may be erected, placed, maintained or altered, and the natural topography or drainage of a lot may not be altered, until the plans are approved by the Developer. The plans must show the floor plan, the quality of construction materials, the outside colors, the harmony of the external design with existing structures, and the location against the lot lines, topography and finished grade. Two complete sets go in, one is returned with the decision in writing, and the document says the decision is entirely within the Developer's discretion. It sets no deadline for a response and no deemed-approval rule. It also says this architectural control authority expires fifteen years after recording while the other restrictions stay in force, so it is worth asking your title company who, if anyone, reviews plans today.
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 →Three rules touch the yard, and only one of them is about appearance. Every lot must be kept mowed, trimmed and free of debris at all times, vacant or not, with grass clippings and tree and bush trimmings disposed of by the owner rather than dumped on a vacant lot, and the document says violators will be charged for the removal. Separately, no grading, planting, sodding or surface covering may be applied to the strip between the front lot line and the outer edge of the street surfacing in any way that reduces or impedes storm drainage, and anyone who alters the drainage is made personally liable for the resulting damage. The utility easement strips may be used for gardens, shrubs and landscaping so long as that does not interfere with the utility use, but no permanent building may sit on them. Nothing in the document restricts plant choice, beds, or tree removal elsewhere on a lot, and there is no approval step for ordinary planting.
Mailboxes get their own short section. All mail boxes are to be located at the side of the property drive, must be approved by the developer at the time of installation, and must be kept in good repair at all times. The document names no style, height, material or color, and it does not say who approves a replacement now that the Developer's stated approval period has run.
Dogs, cats and other household pets may be kept. Livestock, animals or poultry of any other kind may not be harbored, raised, bred or kept on a lot. The permission for household pets carries two conditions: they may not be kept, bred or maintained for any commercial purpose, and they may not be permitted to become a neighborhood nuisance or hazard. The document sets no number limit, no weight or breed limit, no leash rule and no waste rule. A separate paragraph asks each buyer to recognise the rural setting and the agricultural uses nearby, which are outside the Developer's control.
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 is allowed. No sign of any kind may be displayed to public view on a lot except a single sign of not more than five square feet advertising the property for sale or rent, or a sign of any size used by a builder to advertise during the construction and sales period. The Developer also reserved the right to put up its own signs to promote sales in the development. The document does not separately address political, security, contractor or holiday signs, so those fall under the general wording rather than an exception.
The one paragraph governing where a vehicle may sit covers recreational and commercial vehicles, and it names campers, trailers, trucks, boats and snowmobiles. None of those may be kept in open areas in the subdivision, on or off the lot, except beyond and behind the rear building line. That reaches a work truck as well as a camper. The document sets no rule at all on where an ordinary passenger car may park, on parking in the street, or on how many vehicles a household may keep. What it does require is an attached garage on every dwelling, sized for two cars and no more than three and at least 484 square feet, and a driveway of asphalt or concrete at least four inches thick and at least twelve feet wide, with a circular drive in front of a home allowed at a minimum of eight feet. Stone and cinder driveways are not permitted.
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 →Trash is covered in detail. A lot may not be used or maintained as a dumping ground for rubbish, and trash, garbage or other waste may be kept only in sanitary containers, with the storage and disposal equipment kept clean. The document defines waste broadly enough to take in discarded household furniture, appliances, building materials, tools, toys and equipment not in use on the premises, and it restricts storing any of that to inside the residence or inside an enclosed accessory building such as a garage, garden shed or storage building. Exterior storage of those items is specifically forbidden. During construction, building materials and trash of any kind must be kept in a trash container. There is no community trash service in this document and no rule about where a bin may sit on collection day.
The document never names a grill, a barbecue or a fire pit. The only burning rule sits inside the trash paragraph and bans burning household trash or garbage, indoors or out, whether or not an incinerator is used. On the face of that wording it reaches waste burning rather than cooking, so a contained cooking grill is not what it bans, but nothing here addresses grilling either way. The nuisance paragraph, which bars noxious or offensive activity and anything that may become an annoyance in the neighborhood, is the clause a smoke complaint would most likely run through.
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.