Design Guidelines for structures

Our neighborhood is approx. 4 yrs old and I have been president for a year now. Prior to me becoming president, there were some retaining walls and awnings built by some homeowners.

Several of the retaining walls and one of the awnings was approved by the architectural review committee and previous board. This was done soon after the handover meeting and there was really no oversight to how these were reviewed/approved. Several of the retaining walls are all along the same street and are very different (some wood, some stone, etc.).

The previous board realized the error and were trying to get bids to build a permanent, consistent wall along those areas, however the cost was waaaay out of our budget.

I am now the president and have noticed a few more awnings going up which we do not have applications for. They are similar to the ONE that was approved several years ago, which is just essentially two posts (not painted), topped by a board with currugated plastic covering it. (it looks really bad). They all have different roofing, either plastic or shingles.

My question is - can we make a resolution to the CC&R's stating specific design guidelines for any future retaining walls and awnings, including those that have not been approved of? ie. must be of the same material/color/style as the home.

Our CC&R's state:
The Board shall the authority but not the obligation to promulgate and issue, and thereafter to amend from time to time, design guidelines supplemting and/or interpreting this declaration. Such guidelines shall be supplied in writing to all Owners and occupants of the Property and shall be fully binding upon all parties as if set forth in this declaration and shall be applied by the Board in reviewing and approving or denying proposed improvements or modifications.

I agree as well about quality over consistency. However, my main concern is everyones idea of "quality" is not the same, and that is obvious in the awnings that have already been built. I do feel that they should match the house they are attached to at the very least.

Maybe there isn't good way around conflicts such as those until they happen.

Our neighborhood is small (80 homes) and they are all VERY close together, so if you have several awnings next to each other that are all different looking and different heighths, it looks shanty town like. Same with the retaining walls because they all connect from one home to the next.

I think as a homeowner I would get irritated very quickly with turning in detailed plans, only to have them denied or sent back for revisions over and over again. As a member of the board, I do not want to have to do that.