Article V. Use, Occupancy and Conduct Restrictions

This document extracts the pertinent information for the Meadow Oaks Homeowners Association covenants as filed with the the Office of the Register of Deeds of Sedgwick County, Kansas.   Official copies can be requested from the Office of the Register of Deeds of Sedgwick County, Kansas.

Article V. Use, Occupancy and Conduct Restrictions

5.01 General. The Property is subject to the conditions, covenants, restrictions, reservations and easements hereby declared to ensure the best use and the most appropriate development and improvement of each Lot; to protect the Owners against such improper use of surrounding Lots as will depreciate the value of the Property; to preserve, so far as practicable, the natural beauty of the Property; to guard against the erection thereof of poorly designed or proportioned improvements and improvements built of improper or unsuitable materials to ensure the best development of the Property; to encourage and secure the erection of attractive homes thereon, with appropriate locations thereof on building sites; to secure and maintain proper setback from streets and adequate free spaces between Structure; and, in general to provide adequately for proper drainage from each Lot onto adjacent Lots and Common Areas.

5.02 Construction Requirements. Unless approval or is otherwise granted by the Architectural Committee, the following construction requirements shall be complied with:

Exterior walls of all building, Structures and appurtenances thereto constructed on any Lot shall be of brick, stone, wood shingles, wood siding, wood paneling, glass, glass blocks or any combination thereof.  All window frames shall be of wood or vinyl, except in basement windows. Roofs shall be covered with asphalt or wood shingles.  A single-story family residence or dwelling , exclusive of basements, porches and garages, shall not be less than 1,000 square feet of floor area.  A multiple-story family residence or dwelling (including split-level, tri-level and quad-level homes) shall not be less than 1,500 square feet of floor area, exclusive of basements, porches and garages.  Each residence or dwelling shall, unless otherwise approved by the Architectural Committee, include a concrete basement which shall contain a floor area comprising at least eighty percent (80%) of the floor contained in the non-basement portions of such residence or dwelling, exclusive of porches and garages.

5.03 Rules and Regulations. Each Owner shall obey and comply with all applicable public laws, Ordinances, rules and regulations, and all rules and regulation now or hereafter promulgated, as provided for in this Declaration.  No activity which may be or become a nuisance to the neighborhood shall be conducted upon the Property. 

5.04 Damage to the Common Area, Etc., Prohibited. No Owner shall do or allow to be done any act which causes or threatens to cause any damage, encroachment or disrepair to the Common Area or the residence or Lot of any other Owner.

5.05 Single-Family Residences; Fences; Entrance Treatments; Dog Runs. No building shall be erected, altered, placed or permitted to remain on any building site subject to this Declaration, other than one new single-family residence for private use, with a private garage and other Structure incidental to residential use, which are approved by the Architectural Committee.  It is intended that no prefabricated outbuildings will be permitted to be constructed on the Lot.  However, notwithstanding the foregoing, the Association may, and hereby reserves the right to, in its sole discretion and at its own expense, construct or install a fence, wall or entrance within the wall easement areas shown on the Plat.  Except as provided in the prior sentence, no fence may be constructed or installed on a Lot, other than one made of black wrought iron, wood, or vinyl, which shall be of a style and type approved from time to time by the Architectural Committee. Dog runs may be constructed providing, however that such structure receives prior approval by the Architectural Committee who shall consider the building materials to be used, whether it is an appropriate length, width and height and whether the structure is properly screened so that it cannot be seen from adjacent and surrounding property by fencing, earth berms and/or landscaping.

5.06 No Excavations. No excavations, except such as are necessary for the construction of a residence or improvements, shall be permitted on any Lot without written permission of the Association.

5.07 No Storage; Trash. No trash, ashes, dirt, rock or other refuse may be thrown or dumped on any Lot or building site.  No building materials of any kind or character shall be placed or stored upon any building site more than thirty (30) days before the commencement of construction of a residence or improvements, and then such material shall be placed within the property lines of the building site upon which they are to be erected and shall not be placed in the street or between the curb and property line.

If trash or other refuse is to be disposed of by being picked up and carried away on a regular and recurring basis, containers may be placed in the open, on any day that a pick-up is to be made, at such place on the Lot so as to provide access to persons making such pick-up.  At all other times, such containers shall be stored in such a manner so that they cannot be seen from adjacent and surrounding property.  The Association, in its discretion, may adopt and promulgate reasonable rules and regulations relating to the size, shape, color, and type of containers permitted and the manner of storage of the same.

5.08 No Business Allowed. Expect as authorized by the Board, no retail, wholesale, manufacturing or repair business of any kind, shall be permitted on any building site or in any residence or appurtenant Structure erected thereon, even though this does not incude the employment of any additional person or persons in the performance of such services.

5.09 Temporary Buildings. Except as authorized by the Board, no basement, tent, shack, garage, barn or outbuilding erected on a building site covered by this Declaration shall at any time be used for human habitation, temporarily or permanently, nor shall any Structure of a temporary character be used for human habitation.

5.10 Used Houses; Trailers. No used, secondhand or previously erected house or building of any kind can be moved, placed or permitted to remain upon a building site subject to this Declaration.

5.11 Animals. No birds, animals or insects, except dogs, cats or other household pets, shall be kept or maintained on any Lot.  Under no circumstances shall any commercial or agricultural business enterprise involving the use of animals be conducted on the Property without the express written consent of the Board. The Board may, from time to time, publish and impose reasonable regulations setting forth the type and number of animals that may be kept on any Lot.

5.12 Signs. Except as authorized by the Board, and except for those installed by governmental entities including, but not limited to the City of Wichita and/or Sedgwick County, Kansas, no signs, advertisements, billboards or advertising Structures of any kind may be erected or maintained on any of the Lots; provided, however, that permission is hereby granted for the erection and maintenance of not more than one temporary, unlighted, unanimated signboard on each building site as sold and conveyed, which signboard shall not be more than ten (10) square feet in size and may be used for the sole and exclusive purpose of advertising for sale the Lot and residence upon which it is erected and improvements thereon, if any.

5.13 Sight Lines. No fence, masonry wall, hedge or mass planting shall be permitted to extend beyond the minimum front building setback lines established on the Plat. No hedge, shrub, mass planting or tree shall be allowed by the Owner to obstruct sight lines at any corner.  Trees, shrubs and other plants which die shall be promptly removed from the Property.

5.14. Antennas. Except as authorized by the Architectural Committee, there shall not be erected any external television or radio antennas or permanent clothesline structures, and no Owner shall erect any Structure, either permanent or temporary, upon any of the Common Area.

5.15.  Trailers. Except as authorized by the Board, no automobile, truck, motorcycle, motorbike, boat, house trailer, boat trailer or trailer or any other vehicle of any type or description may be stored upon any of the Common Area, nor may any boat, boat trailer, house trailer, camper, camper trailer or similar items be store in the open on any Lot. 

5.16 No Joyriding. Except as otherwise authorized by the Architectural Committee, motor scooters, minibikes or similar vehicles shall be operated for transportation only, and no joyriding on the streets, any Lot or the Common Area shall be allowed except on a designated bike or cycle trail.

5.17 Requirements to Keep Lot in Good Order and Repair. Each Owner shall keep all Lots owned by the Owner, and all improvements therein or thereon, in good order and repair, including, but not limited to, the seeding, watering and mowing of all lawns, the pruning and cutting of all trees and shrubbery, and the painting (or other appropriate external care), of all buildings and other improvements, all in a manner and with such frequency as is consistent with good property management in relation to a quality residential neighborhood such as will exist in the Property.  If, in the opinion of the Board, any Owner fails to perform the duties imposed by the preceding sentence, the Board, after approval by a two-thirds decision of the Board, and after fifteen (15) days’ written notice to Owner to remedy the condition in question, shall have the right, through its agents and employees to enter upon the Lot in question and to repair, maintain, repaint and restore the Lot or such improvements, and the cost thereof shall be a binding personal obligation of such Owner, and the Board may establish a special assessment on such Lot for the cost thereof and enforce the same as provided in Article IV hereof.

5.18 Division of Lots Prohibited. Except as authorized by the Architectural Committee, no platted Lot or building site shall be divided into more than one building site, but more than one Lot may be used as a building site for one building.

5.19 Trees. Except as authorized by the Board, no tree having a diameter of six (6) inches or more (measured from a point two (2) feet above ground level) shall be removed from any Lot without the express written authorization of the Board, other than those which are diseased or materially damaged.  The Board, in its discretion, may adopt and promulgate rules and regulations upon the Property.  The Board may designate certain trees, regardless of size, as not removable without written authorization.

5.20 Requirement to Plant Lawn, Etc. As soon as practicable after completion of a dwelling on a Lot, the Owner thereof shall plant a lawn and at least eight (8) perennial shrubs and/or bushes and at least three (3) trees, with the trunk of each being a minimum of two inches in diameter on such Lot.

5.21 Drainage. Prior to the commencement of construction of improvements, the Owner of such Lot shall cause such Lot to be graded so as to strictly comply with drainage guidelines, standards and plans concerning water drainage from such Lot to other Lots established prior to the commencement of such construction by the City of Wichita, Declarant or the Architectural Committee.

5.22 Restriction of Leased or Rented Properties and Dwellings on Lots. All Lots must be owner-occupied.  Renting or leasing to non-owners shall be prohibited unless the Owner also occupies the Lot and maintains said Lot as their primary residence. All current Owners, as of March 1, 2009, planning to continue leasing or renting the property on their Lot to non-owners, are required to notify the Board by certified letter no later than April 15, 2009, explicitly stating their intent to continue leasing or renting to the current non-owner.  Additionally, payment of all annual and special assessments, for each leased or rented property or dwelling, must be current and remain in good standing and paid in accordance with the due date established herein.  Owners of properties on Lots that fail to abide by the provisions set forth herein shall forfeit their right to continue leasing or renting their property to non-owners.