What the recorded documents actually say about Villas at Sandalwood in South Bend — 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
These answers come from the Amended and Restated Declaration of Covenants and Restrictions of Villas at Sandalwood, recorded with the St. Joseph County Recorder on April 29, 2002 as instrument 0223832. It restated the covenants for this subdivision in their entirety, which means the 1997 protective restrictions and the 1999 declaration that are also on file are no longer the rule, even though a seller or a listing may still hand you a copy of one. The same restatement had already been recorded once before, on February 4, 2000 as instrument 0006413, and the text is the same. It governs all 60 lots in Section One and Section Two, which is the whole subdivision.
Two association papers are also on file and are used here where they are the only source of a current rule: an undated association rules sheet and a one-page fee handout. Those are board documents, not recorded covenants. A board can change them, and on two points they are stricter than the recorded covenant, renting and yard signs. Both of those are flagged in the answers below, and both are worth getting from the board in writing before you rely on them.
The recorded copy on file is a scan of paper, so individual words can be misread. Before anything expensive turns on exact wording, pull the recorded instrument from the Recorder or ask your title company for it.
No fence of any type may go up on a lot unless the Architectural and Landscape Control Committee approves it in advance and in writing. The declaration is unusually broad about what counts as a fence: hedges and other growing fences are named alongside chain link and split rail, so a privacy hedge is treated the same as a fence. No height, material or placement standard is written down, and the declaration says the committee's decision is entirely within its discretion, so there is nothing to fall back on if the committee says no. Ask the committee what it has approved elsewhere in the neighborhood before you plan anything.
An outbuilding may not be used or stored on any lot or street at any time as a residence, for storage, or for use as a workshop. A garden or storage shed is an outbuilding used for storage, so the wording reaches it directly, and no size, screening or approval path is offered as an alternative. Separately, no building or other structure may be erected, constructed, placed, maintained or altered on a lot until the committee has approved the construction plans in writing. The word shed is never used in the document; outbuilding is.
A recreational vehicle, motor home, trailer or camper may not be used or stored on any lot or street at any time as a residence, for storage, or for use as a workshop. The clause names no exception for a garage, and the garage here is part of the dwelling unit sitting on the lot, so there is no permitted place named anywhere in the document. It also does not define how long something has to sit before it counts as stored, so a short visit is genuinely unaddressed. Worth knowing: the 1997 protective restrictions for this subdivision did let a recreational vehicle or trailer stay overnight inside a garage, but the 2002 restatement replaced those restrictions in their entirety and did not carry that allowance forward. Boats are never named. The association's own rules sheet repeats the restatement wording word for word. If you own a camper, get the board's position in writing before you buy.
Both above-ground and in-ground pools are prohibited. The declaration bars tennis courts and above and in-ground pools in one sentence, with no approval path offered for either. That is stricter than most covenants in this county, where an in-ground pool normally survives with committee approval, so it is worth not assuming. The association's own rules sheet repeats the same sentence. The 1997 protective restrictions did allow in-ground pools with approved fencing on a named set of lots, but the 2002 restatement replaced them and that allowance is gone.
Any change to the outside of the home needs written approval before work begins, and two bodies are named. An owner may not paint, decorate or change the appearance of any part of the exterior in a way that varies it from the plans the committee approved, and changes may only be made after prior written approval by the Board of Directors and the committee. Separately, no building or other structure may be erected, constructed, placed, maintained or altered on a lot, and the natural topography or drainage may not be altered, until the plans are approved. The association's rules sheet puts real numbers on it: exterior paint follows the approved color choices, replacement garage doors and windows have to be the same style, and replacement shingles are specified as GAF Timberline T30 with 80 mph wind resistance in the color Barkwood. Shingles, structural changes and landscape changes each go in on a Home and Landscape Improvement Application to the committee before work starts.
This is one of the most detailed paragraphs in the document. Outside above-ground television, AM, FM and short wave radio antennas of any type are prohibited, with three named exceptions: a direct broadcast satellite dish no more than one meter across, an MMDS antenna one meter or less in diameter or diagonal measurement, and an antenna to receive television broadcast service. A permitted dish or antenna and its support structure must meet existing safety codes, and has to be placed, to the extent feasible, where it is not visible from the street or other common property. The association may require the owner, at the owner's cost, to plant shrubbery or other screening and to keep the color harmonious with the landscape and architecture, as long as that does not impair installation, maintenance or use. Nothing may be installed until the association approves the placement in writing. All utility service in this subdivision is underground.
The recorded covenants never mention solar. The association's own rules sheet does: an owner planning to install a solar system fills out a Home Solar System Application and submits it to the Architectural Review Committee for approval before work begins. That is a board document rather than a recorded covenant, so it can change, and it does not say what the committee will or will not approve or how long a decision takes. The recorded exterior-change rule points the same way, since panels change the appearance of the dwelling. Get the committee's answer in writing before you order equipment.
This is the clause that defines the neighborhood. The association maintains the landscaping and lawn of each lot on a schedule it sets, so mowing and bed care are not the owner's to arrange. In exchange, an owner may plant, install or maintain flowers, trees, shrubbery or other plant materials on a lot only in accordance with a landscaping plan approved by the committee. Trees with a trunk three inches across or larger stay the owner's responsibility, including pruning and removing any that are dead, unsightly or dangerous; if the association gives written notice and the owner does not act within 60 days, the association may have the work done and charge the owner. Owners maintain their own irrigation system and sprinkler controls, while the association contracts and pays for the annual turn-on and blow-out, and owners are expected to set the watering schedule when they are away so the lawns stay uniform. The association's rules sheet describes what the fee covers: weekly mowing on Thursdays April through October, front shrubs and small trees trimmed, front flower beds weeded, edging four times a year, a fall clean-up, and fertilizer and weed control five times a year including grub control in June.
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 and cats may be kept as household pets. No other animals may be raised, bred or kept on a lot. Pets may not be kept, bred or maintained for any commercial purpose, and may not be permitted to become a neighborhood nuisance or hazard in any manner. The documents set no number, weight or breed limit, there is no leash or clean-up rule in them, and no pet deposit or registration appears. Since the association's crews mow every lot on a schedule, how dogs are handled on mowing day is a fair question for the board.
The recorded covenant and the association's own rules sheet do not say the same thing here, and the gap matters. The recorded restatement says no lease of less than one year may be entered into without the prior approval of the Board of Directors, which on its face leaves a lease of a year or more unrestricted. The association's rules sheet says flatly that no rentals or leases are permitted. A board rules sheet is not a recorded covenant and does not by itself override one, but it is what the board is telling owners. If renting the home is part of why you are buying, get the board's position in writing before you close, and ask whether the covenant was ever amended on this point.
A basketball hoop is never named. What the documents require is approval: no playground equipment may be installed or placed on a lot without prior written approval from the Architectural and Landscape Control Committee, and separately no structure may be erected, constructed, placed, maintained or altered on a lot until the committee approves the plans in writing. A pole-mounted hoop is equipment placed on a lot and a committee would usually read it into one of those, so treat it as needing written approval. A portable hoop rolled out onto the driveway is not addressed either way, and the driveways here are cleared by the association's snow crew, which is a reason to ask rather than assume.
The recorded covenant allows two kinds of sign on a lot: one sign of not more than five square feet advertising the property for sale, and security signs. Anything posted in the common areas needs committee approval. The association's own rules sheet reprints that list and adds vendor signs while work is being performed at the residence, and then, further down the same sheet, says no yard signs are allowed at all, political, business or otherwise. Those two lines sit on one page and point different ways, so the board is the one to ask how it applies them. The for-sale sign is the one expressly permitted by the recorded covenant.
The word parking never appears in these documents, and ordinary resident or guest parking is not restricted. What is restricted is what may sit outside: junk vehicles may not be kept outside the residence, and a recreational vehicle, motor home, trailer or camper may not be used or stored on any lot or street at any time. Every home has to have a full size attached garage capable of holding at least two vehicles, and driveways have to be four inch thick concrete, with resurfacing or replacement in gravel, asphalt or similar products prohibited. One practical note from the association's rules sheet: the association clears driveways and the sidewalk to the house once two inches or more of snow falls, but a driveway with a vehicle left in it will not be cleared.
A home occupation is permitted, with tight limits. It has to be conducted entirely within the dwelling and participated in solely by a member of the immediate family living there, and it has to stay clearly incidental and secondary to using the home as a home. There may be no sign or display indicating from the outside that the building is used for anything but a residence, no commodity sold on the lot, no employee other than an immediate family member living on the lot, and no mechanical or electrical equipment used. A barber shop, styling salon, beauty parlor, tea room, fortune-telling parlor, animal hospital, or any form of animal care or treatment such as dog trimming is expressly excluded from counting as a home occupation, and licensed or unlicensed for-profit child or adult day care is not permitted. The association's separate rules sheet also says no garage sales, apart from the community sale in late June.
A short stay is covered by the lease rule rather than by a clause of its own. No lease of less than one year may be entered into without the prior approval of the Board of Directors, so a weekly or monthly booking needs the board's prior approval on the face of the recorded covenant. The association's own rules sheet goes further and says no rentals or leases are permitted at all. These documents were written before the short-term rental platforms existed and never use those words, so the board's current position is the thing to get in writing.
Repair is addressed directly here, which is unusual in this county. The nuisance paragraph bars junk vehicles from being kept outside the residence and bars repair work being done outside the garage. So work on a vehicle belongs inside the garage rather than in the driveway or at the curb. The clause sets no exception for a quick job, does not define what counts as repair work, and does not mention washing or detailing. The association's own rules sheet repeats the same sentence.
Trash, garbage and other waste may not be kept except in sanitary containers, and no lot may be used or maintained as a dumping ground for rubbish. The practical side comes from the association's rules sheet: trash collection is part of the monthly fee, weekly on Tuesday, with recycling every other week on Tuesday, the owner supplies the containers, and containers are to be kept in the garage rather than outside.
No grill is named anywhere in these documents. What is there is a fires paragraph, and it is written broadly: no fire for leaf burning or otherwise is permitted to burn upon any street, roadway or lot. Read on its face, the words or otherwise reach a charcoal fire or a fire pit on a lot, not just a leaf pile. A gas grill is a different question and the document does not answer it, since it is arguable whether that is a fire being permitted to burn upon the lot. The association's own rules sheet repeats the same sentence. If grilling matters to you, ask the board how it reads this paragraph, because the wording and the way a neighborhood actually lives can be far apart.
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.