Architectural review committee
Also called: ARC; architectural control committee; design review board
An architectural review committee, or ARC, reviews owner applications for exterior changes — a fence, a new paint colour, solar panels, a shed, an addition — and approves, conditions, or denies them against the standards in the CC&Rs and any design guidelines the board has adopted.
Good ARC practice is mostly procedure: a written application, a clear list of what needs approval, a decision within the deadline the documents set (some documents deem an application approved if the committee misses it), and written reasons for any denial. Consistency matters, because approving one owner's project and denying a neighbour's identical one is the classic basis for a selective-enforcement defence.
Many states also limit what an ARC may forbid outright, such as solar panels, flags, or drought-tolerant landscaping.