Requests and approvals

One queue, one reference number, and the same clock the Board sees.

Every request gets a reference like MDW-2026-0142 the moment you submit it, along with the date the Board's answer is due. You can read the whole history of your own matter at any time, including what the Board wrote and when.

Requests go to the Association, not to a Director's phone. That is deliberate. It means nothing depends on one volunteer being home, and nothing is lost when someone is on vacation.

Start here

Requests are tied to your lot, so you sign in first. Setting up an account takes a minute and matches the email the Association already has for your lot.

Open the owner portal I do not have an account yet

Architectural and environmental change requests

Declaration Article VI, 5.6, 5.16, 5.26
  1. SubmitOnline, with plans and photos. A reference number arrives by email.
  2. Completeness checkWithin 15 days the reviewer may ask once for more.
  3. ReviewThe architect and, where land is affected, the environmental reviewer.
  4. Decision in writingApproved, approved with conditions, or not approved with reasons.
  5. Work and close-outBuild to what was approved, then confirm completion.

What needs approval before work starts

Written approval is required before installing, building or materially altering any of these, and before any exterior change to a home or lot.

  • Structures and additions, decks, patios, porches
  • Fences, walls, retaining walls and solid hedges
  • Swimming pools, swim spas and hot tubs, with the pool area landscaped
  • Driveways and walks
  • Exterior paint and any change to colors or materials
  • Substantial landscaping, and landscape plans
  • Removing a tree over six inches in diameter
  • Solar installations and renewable energy equipment
  • Satellite dishes and antennas
  • Basketball hoops, air conditioning units, mailboxes, flagpoles

Declaration 6.2, 6.3, 5.10, 5.14, 5.16, 5.21, 5.24

What makes a submission complete

The forty-five days starts when the submission is complete, so including these the first time is the fastest route to an answer.

  • What you intend to build or change, and where on the lot
  • Dimensions: height, footprint, setbacks from each lot line
  • Materials and color scheme, with samples or product specifications
  • A site plan or survey marking the location
  • Drawings, elevations or the contractor's plans
  • Photographs of the existing condition
  • Contractor name and contact, and whether they are licensed and insured
  • Estimated cost and estimated completion date

Township permits are your responsibility and are separate from this approval. The committee approving a plan does not mean the Township will.

Environmental review

Deerwood sits among protected wetland and natural drainage ways, so some changes are reviewed for their effect on the land as well as how they look. If your request includes any of these, the form asks a few extra questions, and an environmental reviewer signs off before approval.

Trees

A tree more than six inches across needs written approval unless it is dead or diseased. The Board may ask for replacement planting.

Declaration 5.16

Grading and drainage

Natural drainage patterns may not be altered, except within your lot when water still enters and leaves at the same points, or the adjacent owners consent in writing.

Declaration 5.6

Wetlands and open space

Disturbing wetlands and drainage areas is prohibited unless approved by the Township and State authorities. Tell us where any permit stands.

Declaration 5.26

Solar

Permitted, subject to Michigan law. Submit the proposed location and specifications. The committee approves installations that comply with the law and are placed to limit the visual effect on neighbors, consistent with the system working efficiently. Installation is by a licensed and insured contractor.

Declaration 6.3

Setbacks that carry forward

Forty feet from the front lot line, fifty feet from a rear lot line, ten feet from a side line. A recreational structure or pool is no nearer than forty feet to the front line or to a side line adjoining a street, and is screened from the street.

Declaration 6.7(a)

If a rule does not fit your lot

The Board may agree in writing to a deviation where applying a restriction would create a practical difficulty you did not create. A deviation applies to your lot alone and waives nothing for anyone else.

Declaration 6.5

Start a change request Read the rules first

Other requests

Common area work order

3 days to acknowledge

Something on Association property needs repair: a road, an entrance, the retention pond, a sign, lighting, a mailbox stand. Say where it is and the Board can place it on the map.

Open a work order

Maintenance request

5 days to acknowledge

Mowing, plowing, drainage or landscaping that the Association is responsible for.

Open a maintenance request

Violation appeal or hearing request

7 days to acknowledge

Respond in writing to a notice, ask to be heard before the Board, or request a hardship variance. Everything you send is attached to the matter and timestamped.

Respond to a notice

Declaration 7.9, 7.2, 6.5

Question for the Board

5 days to reply

Anything else you want answered in writing. If the answer is already in the governing documents you will usually get it immediately, with the section cited.

Ask the Board

Status letters and resale documents

To obtain an Association status letter, a copy of the Bylaws, or other real estate documents for a sale or a refinance, order them through CondoCerts, the resale and lender disclosure system the management company uses. Cost varies with what is requested.

Order from CondoCerts

CondoCerts customer service is 1-800-310-6552 or info@condocerts.com. The Association's Community Association Manager can also help.

A certificate of status is provided for under Declaration 4.13.

Setting up an owner account

Accounts are created for current owners only. Your account is bound to your lot by matching the email address the Association already holds for it, which is why the email you use matters.

  1. Sign in with the email the Association has on file for your lot.
  2. The system matches it to the lot record and binds your account.
  3. Complete the identity step to vote, sign, or receive owner-only documents.

If your email is not on the lot record, the system will say so and tell you how to have it added. The Board adds it after confirming you are the owner of record.

Create an owner account

Changed your email, sold the property, or bought recently? Open a question for the Board and the lot record is updated.