What is an ARC/ACC?

Where the committee's power comes from

An ARC or ACC is not a self-governing body. It exists because the declaration, the recorded CC&Rs, created it and defined what it can review. A committee cannot decide on its own to start regulating something the declaration never gave it, like shed placement or driveway material, just because it sounds architectural.

"The authority of an association or any architectural, construction improvement, or other such similar committee of an association to review and approve plans and specifications for the location, size, type, or appearance of any structure or other improvement on a parcel... shall be permitted only to the extent that the authority is specifically stated or reasonably inferred as to such location, size, type, or appearance in the declaration of covenants or other published guidelines and standards authorized by the declaration of covenants."

Source: Florida Statutes Section 720.3035, State of Florida

This is Florida's statutory wording specifically; check whether your own state has a similar rule and read your declaration's grant of authority directly.

What sits above the committee

The ARC sits at the bottom of a stack, not the top. Federal disability law can require approval of certain requests regardless of what the declaration says. State law, where it exists, can protect specific categories from denial entirely. The declaration sets the committee's basic authority. Published architectural guidelines fill in detail within that grant. Only after all of that is exhausted does board or committee judgment apply.

Which categories your state protects, solar panels, EV chargers, standby generators, and drought tolerant landscaping are examples that exist in at least one researched state, varies. Confirm your own state's statute before assuming the committee has final say on any given request.

What this means for you

If you are on the ARC, the first question for any request is never "do I like this," it is "does the declaration give me authority over this." If you are an owner, the first move when a request is denied is the same: read what the declaration actually grants the committee, not what the committee assumed it could grant itself.

Some states also require the review itself to be conducted in good faith and without arbitrary decisions; California is one example. Whether that standard applies to your association depends on your state's statute.