[Larrikin]

I actually agree with this statement, but people should be allowed to build the sentimental value. They shouldn't have the sentimental value of someone else's past ideas dictate the new.

An awful local law may have dictated that the OP should not have been allowed to build a pizza oven in the first place, because people want to preserve the look and feel of the neighborhood when they moved in. But I also view it as equally bad if the new owner couldn't tear it down because of some HOA regulation saying that structures built before some arbitrary date, conveniently a time after they moved in and did their renovations, can't be torn down. The only real reason being the sentimental value they have to that past.

[bombcar]

The latter can happen with historic designated buildings, and can often be applied widely in unexpected ways. Some will basically say you can’t modify the exterior look, others will say everything up to and including bulb changes must be approved by the historical society.