South Dakota law is silent on architectural review. Chapter 43-15A never mentions design committees, approval timelines, or protected improvements, and no other state statute overrides association covenants for solar panels, clotheslines, or chargers. So the entire fight happens on the terrain of your recorded documents. That is less bleak than it sounds, because it means the committee has no powers beyond what the declaration actually grants, no standards beyond what it actually states or validly delegates, and no exemption from the ordinary contract-law rule that restrictions on the free use of land are construed against the party enforcing them. A denial that can't point to a recorded standard, or that applies a standard invented after your application, is weak, and the committee knows it.
The federal floors still apply in South Dakota like everywhere else. The FCC's over-the-air reception rule (47 C.F.R. § 1.4000) largely bars associations from prohibiting satellite dishes under one meter and television antennas on property you own or exclusively use. The Freedom to Display the American Flag Act of 2005 prevents associations from banning display of the U.S. flag outright, subject to reasonable time, place, and manner rules. And the federal Fair Housing Act requires associations to permit reasonable modifications for residents with disabilities, a ramp or grab rail the covenants would otherwise prohibit. Beyond those, what your declaration says is what governs, in both directions.
Interior versus exterior in a condominium
For condominium owners, SDCL § 43-15A-7 gives each owner an exclusive right to their condominium and a common right to a share of the common areas. Paired with § 43-15A-5's definition of common areas, that draws the practical line: inside your unit, the master deed would have to speak clearly to give the association a say; the building exterior and grounds are common areas where the council of co-owners' documents control. When a committee reaches inside your unit, make it show the recorded language that gets it there.
The authority
The statutes behind this
Cited by name as authority, for your own reading. Informational only, not legal advice.
SDCL § 43-15A-7
Each condominium owner holds an exclusive right to their unit and a common right to a share of the common areas, the statutory baseline for who controls what.
SDCL § 43-15A-5
Defines the default common areas (land, structure, halls, yards, central services), the zone where the association's documents, not the individual owner, govern changes.
47 C.F.R. § 1.4000
The federal OTARD rule bars association restrictions that impair installing small satellite dishes and TV antennas on property you own or exclusively use.
Freedom to Display the American Flag Act of 2005 (Pub. L. 109-243)
Federal law prevents associations from prohibiting display of the U.S. flag, subject to reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions.
Step by step
How to respond to an architectural denial in South Dakota
Steps to test a South Dakota ARC denial against the recorded covenants, the only source of the committee's power.
- 01
Get the denial and its basis in writing
Ask the committee to cite the exact recorded covenant or validly adopted guideline your project violates. In a state with no architectural statute, an uncited denial is just an opinion.
- 02
Pull the recorded documents yourself
Order the declaration and amendments from the register of deeds and read the actual grant of ARC authority: what it covers, what standards it states, and any response deadline it sets for the committee.
- 03
Check for a federal floor
If the project is a small dish or antenna (OTARD), a U.S. flag (the 2005 federal flag act), or a disability-related modification (Fair Housing Act), the association's power is already limited regardless of the covenants.
- 04
Assemble comparables
Photograph similar approved projects in the community, identified by address or lot number. Inconsistent application of a recorded standard sets up the selective-enforcement argument (see that guide).
- 05
Appeal on the record
Resubmit in writing to the full board, attaching the covenant analysis and comparables, and ask that the decision and reasons be reflected in the minutes, which you can inspect under SDCL § 47-24-2 if the association is incorporated.
Straight answers
Common questions
Can a South Dakota HOA ban solar panels?
No South Dakota statute prevents it, so the answer lives in your recorded covenants. If they prohibit or restrict solar, that restriction is tested only under ordinary covenant law, including the rule that restrictions are construed against the enforcing party. Unrecorded board policies against solar carry far less weight.
Is there a deadline for the ARC to decide my application?
Only if your documents create one. Many declarations deem a request approved if the committee fails to respond within a stated period; find that clause, calendar it, and assert it in writing if the committee goes quiet.
Can they stop me from flying the American flag or installing a dish?
Mostly no. Federal law protects U.S. flag display (subject to reasonable rules) and small satellite dishes and TV antennas under the FCC's OTARD rule, and those protections apply in South Dakota regardless of what the covenants say.
The committee is enforcing standards that appear nowhere in the covenants. Is that allowed?
The committee's authority comes only from the recorded documents. If the declaration doesn't state a standard or validly delegate the power to adopt one, a denial based on an invented standard is vulnerable, and putting that gap in writing, on the record, is usually the fastest way to a reversal.