I went through a similar situation in our neighborhood. My wife decided she wanted a patio cover, so I built her one. All cedar construction, with a lean-to style roof topped with Ondura, which is an awesome product that looks like painted corrugated tin, but is actually mad out of cellulose roofing material. I misread the HOA stuff and though we only needed approval for something that was tied to the house, which this is not.
Over a year later, we get a letter from the HOA. No big deal, we submit it for approval as a patio cover, and it gets denied. Apparently patio covers have to be tied into the house roof, and painted to match the house. No big deal. says the lady at the management office. She tells us to resubmit it as a pergola or as a misc. backyard structure, which we do. It comes back as denied again, because it needs to be reshingled to match the house. So my wife calls the HOA office to confirm whether or not the shingles need to be the same brand or just match, and the lady at the office tells her there has been a misunderstanding. She says that all the previous requirements are still in effect, PLUS it needs to be reshingled. Now, because of our roofline, we really can't tie into the roof where the patio is, and I don't want to paint the cedar, since I chose it for its rustic appeal (as well as the Ondura). So I'm getting pissed, and my wife is getting frustrated.
At this point in time I took over the discussion. I asked the lady at the management office to send me a copy of the HOA covenants, and she sends me the deed restrictions. The only deed restriction I can find that we are in violation of is the requirement for the roof to be shingled to match. It does make reference to an Architectural Review Board and a set of Design Guidelines, so I ask for a copy of the design guidelines...and get nothing. When I asked again, firmly but politely, the HOA starts changing their tune about how it doesn't really need to be tied to the roofline, and not really painted to match, but that they would prefer it that way. Again I engaged the lady at the management office, informing her that I had made those specific material and design choices for specific aesthetic and structural reasons, and that I could not find anything in writing showing me where any of those choices were in violation of any HOA policy or deed restriction (except the shingles). After that, I was given an approval of our patio cover, pending reshingling of the roof. I was going to do that his coming weekend, but the weather probably won't be cooperating.