Historic districts are much more strict. Try getting anything past the Old Georgetown Board, for example. And I hate HOAs but I’m sure there are some doozies out there.

Town of Chevy Chase? Yes, they are legendary. THey even regulate the color of portajohns.

Here's a list of forms to submit if you're doing a renovation:
https://www.townofchevychase.org/234/Building-Permitting

I assume OP means Chevy Chase, Maryland?

Not as far as I am aware. People just get things fixed nd follow the rules up there because half of them are lawyers, feds, or both.

I'm not at all suggesting that's a bad thing, just a question. My follow up to that is how does that come to fruition? As in, who in local government sets such a tone? Because where our current home is, it feels like nobody cares about much. I hate it. And it's not a cheap place to live.