What the recorded documents actually say about The Cottages of Pendle Woods in South Bend — fences, sheds, pools, pets, parking and the rest — with the part of the document each answer comes from.
5 homes have sold here in the last four years, which is why this neighborhood was compiled early.
Before you rely on this page
TWO THINGS SET THIS PLACE APART. First, it is MAINTENANCE-PROVIDED: the association installs and maintains the landscaping and lawn on every lot and no one may opt out, so compare the assessment against what you would otherwise spend, not against a typical subdivision's dues. Second, renting is tightly controlled - board approval in writing, the application in at least thirty days before the lease starts, a six-month minimum term, and an association addendum the tenant signs. If you are LISTING here, note the sign rule: one professionally-prepared for-sale sign is allowed, but NO for-sale sign may go at or across from the community entrance, and open-house signs follow the county ordinance. LOT 25 IS DIFFERENT from every other lot - it is excluded from the association's landscaping program, it carries its own 40-foot buffer zone along the north boundaries of lots 22, 23, 24, 26 and 27 where no structure may be built and no living tree cleared, and it has its own fencing and vehicle-parking terms. If the address is Lot 25, this page is not the whole answer - ask for the Lot 25 exhibit.
No dwelling, building, structure, FENCE or other improvement may be placed or altered on a lot without the architectural committee's approval - the committee holds the power to refuse and the power to grant reasonable variances, and its decision can be appealed to the board. The declaration sets no blanket height or material rule for the community as a whole, so the committee's current standards are the answer. Ask for them before you buy materials.
There is no shed option here, and the list is specific: no structure of a temporary character, trailer, basement, tent, shack, garage, barn, TOOL SHED, STORAGE SHED or other outbuilding of any nature may be used on a homesite - a construction trailer while the house is being built is the only exception. Separately, no animal shelter may go on the exterior. Storage has to happen inside the house or the garage.
Recreational and commercial vehicles - campers, trailers, trucks, dune buggies and boats are the examples given - may not be used as a temporary residence or kept in open areas, whether those areas are on your lot or off it. But there is a practical carve-out most covenants do not give: OVERNIGHT PARKING OF AN RV FOR LOADING AND UNLOADING IS PERMITTED. No vehicle of any type may be parked on the street except temporary parking by owners and their guests.
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 →The architectural committee decides placement before anything is built, and the cost of proving it falls on the owner: a complete SITE PLAN PREPARED BY A REGISTERED LAND SURVEYOR must be submitted showing the proposed house on the surveyed lot, and every home must be STAKED by a registered land surveyor - all at the owner's expense. Nothing may be moved from the approved position without written approval, and the committee may require a GREATER setback than the plat shows. A lot carries one single-family home of up to two storeys with a garage for no more than three cars, and no home may be built without the committee's written approval of the plans. Exterior design and all exterior materials must be approved in advance; the committee may grant a variance on architectural style, size, location and overall balance. Homes on pond lots have to be built to resist hydraulic pressure. The committee can inspect work in progress, refuse approval, grant variances, and its decision can be appealed to the board.
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 →This is the reason to live here and the reason the dues are what they are. The ASSOCIATION designs, installs and maintains the landscaping and the lawn on every lot except Lot 25 - mowing, weeding, edging, fertilizer, weed and grub control, pruning and leaf removal, on a schedule it sets. Landscaping is installed by a contractor the association chooses unless it approves otherwise in writing, and NO OWNER MAY OPT OUT. If you put in more plantings than the association recommends, you may be charged extra to maintain them, and a special assessment can follow extra work caused by your own actions or special requests. Everything else about keeping the lot neat and the exterior maintained is still the owner's duty.
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 THE HOME, none kept, bred or maintained commercially and none creating a nuisance - and the nuisance paragraph names dog barking specifically. A pet may go outdoors only on a leash or other restraint and only while attended by its owner. The owner is fully liable for any injury or damage the pet causes, including to the common areas. NO ANIMAL SHELTERS of any kind are allowed on the exterior of a home, so there is no kennel or dog-run option here. Livestock and poultry may not be kept.
Read this before buying here to rent. The declaration states the members' reasoning openly - they believe owner-occupants maintain property better - and then restricts accordingly. NO owner may lease or rent a home except with the WRITTEN APPROVAL OF THE BOARD. Every lease application and lease must be approved at least THIRTY DAYS before the lease starts, and no lease may run less than SIX MONTHS. Each lease has to carry an association-supplied addendum in which the tenant acknowledges the restrictions and agrees to follow them. The owner pays the assessments regardless of what the lease says. If a tenant does not comply the board can revoke the lease approval and require eviction - and if the owner does not start eviction within fifteen days of notice, the board may act and charge the cost to the lot as a lien.
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 →The most detailed sign rule in this directory, and the parts that matter if you are selling. No signage at all without the board's prior consent, with these exceptions: an individual homeowner MAY place ONE professionally-prepared FOR SALE sign to market their home, and no sign displayed to public view may exceed five square feet. NO real estate for-sale sign is allowed at or across from the ENTRANCE of the community. Open house signs must follow the St. Joseph County ordinance. FOR RENT signs are not permitted at all, nor are signs advertising any item for sale. Political signs are permitted, but only from thirty days before an election to five days after it - and they may be displayed inside the windows of the home.
No vehicle of any type may be parked on a street in the community, apart from temporary parking by owners and their guests. An RV may be parked overnight for loading and unloading. Garages hold up to three cars, and the developer or builder may specify whether a particular homesite gets a front-load or a side-load garage door.
No industry, trade or commercial activity on the property - but an owner MAY keep an office or home business in the home if all six conditions hold: it generates no significant number of client visits or unreasonable parking, as the board judges it; no equipment or business items are stored, parked or kept outside; nobody works inside but the owner or another resident; the owner has whatever local and state approvals are required; the owner follows the municipal home-occupations ordinance and the use does not raise the association's insurance rate; and the owner is otherwise in compliance with the declaration. Note separately that GARAGE SALES are prohibited anywhere in the community.
No lease may run less than six months and every lease needs the board's written approval at least thirty days ahead, so a short-term or vacation rental is not possible here.
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 →Stricter than almost anywhere else, and it is about where the cans LIVE. All garbage, trash, refuse and recycling is stored in appropriate containers INSIDE the home or the garage, and stays there until no earlier than the EVENING BEFORE collection. It goes out in sealed disposable plastic bags or approved plastic containers, and after collection the empty containers must be back inside by DUSK the same evening. Nothing may be dumped or burned in a shoreline area or into a pond, leaves and grass clippings included.
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 →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.