GA Statute of Limitations for Violations

I decided to post this as new topic since my earlier posting had to do with subject statute but with fencing. I didn't want my question to get buried.

There is a GA statute 9-3-29 that says a board has 2 years to bring action against an owner for a covenant violation.

Here's our situation: An owner planted gardens in the front & rear of her unit after receiving verbal approval from the Grounds Chair. These healthy plants have been in the ground for four years. Our board recently sent all owners a letter saying that they have plans for the common areas and that even though plantings may have been approved by a previous board, they may not now comport with the current board's standards. They further said that every time a board changes, owners would have to resubmit their existing landscaping plan for re-approval. They imposed a deadline for owners to remove all of their plantings on common areas.

Two years ago the association's attorney advised the then board of the two year statute of limitations mentioned above. The same lawyer has now advised the board that since no lawsuit had been filed against the offending party, the GA statute does not apply. Based on the lawyer's current opinion, the board recently had all of the owner's plants uprooted and thrown away.

Does anyone know if the statute applies only when a lawsuit is filed or if it includes an enforcement action as well? The board would never file a lawsuit 2 years after the statute of limitations has expired. It should be said that we have been given no landscaping standards to follow. The current board is latching on to the attorney's statement that the board has sole responsibility for the common areas and as such were within their rights in removing any owner plantings from the common area.

Many thanks.

I am an owner and not on the board.

Carole from GA posted the following in the past and this is what prompted my post:

"Statute of Limitations: The Georgia statute of limitations for a covenant enforcement action on a non-repeating violation is generally two years. This means an association has two years from the date a violation first occurs to bring suit or it loses its authority to enforce against the violation. This defense may be asserted if the violation occurred more than two years before the lawsuit or enforcement action."

The front and rear gardens are on common areas.

There was no precise notice to the owner in question, just the notice sent to all residents.

The only thing I'll add is that when I received the board's letter to all owners, I emailed the association's attorney and asked if his 2014 clearance was still in effect. He said that he didn't feel comfortable answering me as I wasn't on the board and he wasn't certain that he was still the association's attorney. He did add that as far as he knew, there had been no change in the law.

I'll try and find the statute. Thanks for your assistance.