Restrictive Covenants – Stonebridge Community Association

Frequently Asked Questions

Do the Stonebridge restrictive covenants apply to my home?

What restrictive covenants are in place in the Stonebridge community?

Who is responsible for enforcing restrictive covenants?

What are restrictive covenants?

Restrictive covenants operate in addition to municipal zoning by-laws in controlling the use and appearance of property. Restrictive covenants are implemented by the developers of a given subdivision to maintain consistency among properties in the neighbourhood, and therefore they will affect every lot in a subdivision. This is done in order to preserve the value of the property in the subdivision, and protect our individual investments.

Do the Stonebridge restrictive covenants apply to my home?

The Stonebridge community was developed predominantly by Monarch (now Mattamy), along with a number of other developers including Cardel, Uniform and Valecraft. The Stonebridge restrictive covenants were implemented for all homes in the Stonebridge community. The Stonebridge community has over 3400 homes located within the Stonebridge community boundary.

There is a common set of Stonebridge restrictive covenants that are registered on title of the property, so they apply whether you are the original owner or have purchased the home as resale. For original homeowners, the Stonebridge restrictive covenants were included as a schedule in the Purchase and Sale agreement for the home. To confirm that the Stonebridge restrictive covenants are in place on your property, or any other property, you can have a title search done on the property which will provide the restrictive covenants registered on title of the property.

What restrictive covenants are in place in the Stonebridge community?

The following is a summary of common restrictions covered by the Stonebridge restrictive covenants:

Lawn and advertising signage is not permitted except for sale or rent signs, which must be smaller than 3′ X 2′.
No change will be made to the grading of the land.
Satellite dishes are not permitted on the front of homes and must not exceed 18” in diameter.
Above ground pools are not permitted.
No exterior drying equipment is permitted except for a free-standing folding drying rack.
Boats, trailers, camping equipment, snowmobile, mobile homes, or similar commercial or recreational vehicles, may not be parked in the front of the property.
No living tree will be cut down or removed from the property.
The black chain link fence on golf course properties will not be removed. No additional fencing may be installed within 5 metres of the black chain link fence.
No livestock, chicken, or pigeon coops are permitted on the property.
The original exterior colours chosen, including front and garage doors, are not to be changed.

The following is the list of Stonebridge restrictive covenants as they appear on the title of Stonebridge properties.

The burden of each of the following restrictive covenants hereinafter set out shall run with each and every single and semi-detached building lot for a period of fifteen (15) years from the date of registration of same on title to these lots:

(a) No building erected on the land shall be used for the purpose of any professions, trade, employment manufacture or business of any description, nor as a school, hospital, or other charitable institution, nor as a funeral home or crematorium, or anything in the nature thereof, nor as a hotel, apartment house, duplex, rooming house or place of public resort, nor form any sport or game other than such games as are customarily played in connection with the occupation of a private residence, nor for any other purpose than that of a private residence for the use of one family only and garage for the use of the occupants of such residence, nor shall the land without a building be so use, nor shall anything be done on the land or in any building thereon with may be a annoyance or nuisance to the occupiers of neighbouring lands. Provided that nothing herein contained shall be deemed to prevent on duly qualified medical practitioner from practising in any such private dwelling house where he resides, but this shall not be construed to permit any such practitioner or any other person to use such private dwelling house as a sanatorium, hospital, nursing home, or anything of that nature thereof.

(b) No signs, billboards, notices or advertising matter of any kind shall be placed upon the land or anything growing thereon, or upon or in any buildings, fences or other things erected or placed thereon other than one sign advertising the property for sale or rent not larger than three feet (3′) by two feet (2′).

(c) Prior to acceptance of the said plan of subdivision by the City of Nepean no change will be made in the grading of the land from the grades established pursuant to the final Drainage and Grading Plan filed with the City nor interference made with drainage swales constructed pursuant thereto, nor will any change be made in the drainage scheme of the subdivision without the approval of the Director, Infrastructure Services.

(d) The Purchaser acknowledges and agrees having been shown the above ground utility drawing which shows the location of all above ground utilities, such as street lights, transformers and postal facilities.

(e) No antennae, either television or radio transmitter or receiver including Satellite Earth Stations (dishes), or other communications devices, shall be erected on any building, structure or land other than a satellite dish measuring 18 inches or less in diameter and only upon prior approval by the Vendor as to the location for such installation, which approval may be arbitrarily withheld. In no event shall the satellite dish be erected on the front of the house.

(f) No above ground swimming pools shall be erected on the land.

(g) No exterior drying apparatus or device shall be erected on the land or attached to any house, dwelling or building other than a free-standing folding drying rack.

(h) No boats, trailers, camping equipment, snowmobile, mobile homes or similar commercial or recreational vehicles shall be parked upon that portion of the lands located between the fronting street limit and the front wall of the dwelling and/or garage.

(i) No living tree shall be cut down or removed from the land, other than those standing within an area to be excavated for the erection of a building thereon, without the prior consent in writing of the Vendor. No refuse or other materials shall be burned on the land. All trees required to be cut down, together with stumps, roots, brush and surface letter are to be removed by the Purchaser from this subdivision.

(j) No fencing shall be installed or erected on the land without the prior written consent of the Vendor. The Purchaser acknowledges that all lots backing directly onto the golf course shall be fenced on such adjoining property line to the golf course with black chain link fencing only. In that regard, the Purchaser covenants to never remove such black chain link fencing and further covenants to never erect on his land any additional type of fencing materials within five (5) metres from such black chain link fencing. No fencing shall be installed or erected upon the lands between the face wall of the dwelling and adjoining garage and the street line, save and except for fences erected by the Vendor as part of the overall landscaping scheme of the said plan of subdivision: on corner properties, no fence shall extend beyond the rear wall of the house forward down the side yard so as the view of that side of the house is distracted in any way.

(k) No Purchaser shall keep on the land any livestock, chicken or pigeon coops etc.

(l) The Vendor, its successors or assigns, may by agreement with the Purchaser, amend, vary or cancel and remove any restrictions herein contained and substitute any other restrictions in respect of the land.

(m) The original colours as chosen by the Vendor for the architecturally controlled exterior house colour package may not be altered without the prior written consent of the Vendor for fifteen (15) years from the initial transfer of the property from the Vendor in order to maintain architectural consistency throughout the community.

Who is responsible for enforcing restrictive covenants?

The Stonebridge Community Association does not as part of its mandate enforce restrictive covenants, but does participate in raising awareness of the Stonebridge restrictive covenants and strongly encourages compliance by residents in the community. Similarly, neither the Stonebridge Golf Club nor Mattamy (previously Monarch) are in a position to enforce the restrictive covenants in any way.

In our experience the restrictive covenants may not always be known to residents, for example if they are renting a property, or perhaps not the original homeowner. Awareness is always the first step in addressing this, so that the individual(s) involved in the potential infraction can familiarize themselves with the restrictive covenants in effect. Simply notifying the property owner of concerns related to the Stonebridge restrictive covenants to raise awareness has in some cases led to a change in use that addresses these concerns.

If a restrictive covenant is not respected, any other resident of the subdivision to which the restrictive covenant applies may seek a court order to enforce the restrictive covenant on the offending property. To pursue the enforcement of an infraction of a restrictive covenant we recommend that a lawyer is consulted for advice on how best to proceed.