Rigidity rather than flexibility is, in fact, not good governing. As a lawyer explained here:

http://www.habitatmag.com/publication_content/2008_october/featured_articles_from_our_print_magazine/authoritarian_boards_public_rancor/authoritarian_boards_public_rancor_p_2

"A board can decide to not enforce a rule," notes attorney Joseph G. Colbert, a partner at Kagan Lubic Lepper Lewis Gold & Colbert, and an adjunct professor at St. John's University School of Law. "If it's just something the board passed and not a bylaw amendment, then the board, like any political body, can interpret when these rules can be enforced, subject of the approval or disapproval of the residents."

Grandfathering was the wise solution in this case, in which a board until then had wasted enormous time, energy and money and found itself harshly spotlight on TV news.

It probably wouldn't hurt to read one of the articles at http://www.habitatmag.com/publication_info/site_map#subletting