Architectural - Country Grove Neighborhood Association

Architectural Review Committee

Confused About Covenants and Deed Restrictions?

"Country Grove Joint Venture" was the entity originally in charge of matters related to architectural review and covenant enforcement. After all lots in Country Grove were sold, the governing authority of these matters has been turned over to the Country Grove Neighborhood Association Board.

Country Grove has a restrictive covenant that is incorporated into each property as deed restrictions. The Covenant is NOT optional and MUST be obeyed.

We must adhere to the covenant which we all signed when we purchased our homes. Legal steps may be taken if necessary to enforce them. The outcome of legal action is usually in the Association's favor and Attorney fees and costs are often paid by the challenging homeowner.

The purpose of a covenant is to establish and enforce a set of standards to which all residents of a neighborhood must adhere. Covenant proponents believe they help to maintain property values by ensuring a well-kept and tasteful appearance to the neighborhood as a whole.

Architectural Review

Homeowners must submit a review to the Architectural Committee for the following:

All fences over 4 FT in height
Prefabricated outbuildings/sheds/gazebos
Swimming pools
Solar panels
Accessory uses of your home, including professional or business offices when more than 300 square feet of home are used, an outside employee is employed, an identification sign is displayed or business may be a disturbance or nuisance to adjoining properties
It is strongly encouraged that all fences be reviewed by CGNA prior to purchase/installation.

Homeowners can seek advice on other issues including square footage, garages, driveways, roofing, siding, mailboxes, lawn cover, landscaping and parking by reading the covenants. Please note that satellite dishes do NOT need architectural approval.

If you have any covenant related questions or concerns, please contact the Architectural Committee. The CGNA Architectural Review Application
is available for download.

The Truth About Trailers

One of the hottest issues in our neighborhood involves the parking of trailers.

The covenant states that, “Storage of boats, travel trailers, mobile homes, campers and other recreational vehicles shall be prohibited unless kept in the garage”.

If you have a trailer, please park it in your garage or get off-site storage.

If your neighbor has a trailer parked on their property, please talk directly to them first. If the issue cannot be resolved, contact CGNA and we will help.

Technically, although street parking is not governed by the covenant, the spirit of the covenant is to eliminate trailers (boats, campers, etc) from cluttering our neighborhood.

Street parking is a City of Madison issue and allows parking not to exceed 48 hours. Parking that exceeds 48 hours is considered abandonment. Contact Parking Enforcement (266-4275) for all parking enforcement issues.

Please Tell Us Who You Are!

We often receive anonymous phone calls about covenant violations. If you have something you wish to report, please provide your name and contact information so we can get more details and also follow up with you.

A Word On Fences

The CGNA board is requesting that all fences regardless of height be reviewed/approved by the Architectural Committee. Although fences four feet in height or less do not necessarily need approval (as stated in the covenant), we are trying to be proactive on fences so no one gets caught off guard.

Believe it or not, fences are the number one cause of arguments between neighbors. Landscaping changes and trailer parking are other big sore spots.

When a fence application is submitted to the Architectural Review Committee, we verify that the fence height and design is not violating any City of Madison ordinances.

We also notify all adjoining neighbors of the planned work and seek their approval. The point here is that if we get resident plans in writing before the work is done, we can review them and make sure there are no surprises for anyone.

Chain-Link fences are strongly discouraged! These fences go against the look that our neighborhood wants.

Review Application

The CGNA Architectural Review Application
is available for download here:
Architectural Review Application MS Word file

Questions?

If you have any questions regarding the covenants or the review application process, please contact the Architectural Committee.