Earlier quoted context omitted.
Typically, covenants are meant to cover issues more locally than zoning could, like a permanent easement for the benefit of an adjoining property or setbacks for all the properties on one street to achieve a particular aesthetic. You could make them zoning laws, but they would be rather complex and have to refer to particular parcels. They can be removed, but typically you have to prove that removing the covenant isn…
you can also invalidate a convenant through laws. a good portion of the US has racial covenants saying what properties can be sold to whom, but none of those have been legal or legally enforceable since the Fair Housing Act. https://www.alta.org/advocacy/housing-opportunities/discrimi...
Good point. Another famous example are the "entails" that many inherited estates in Britain had at one time (and a major plot point in the show Downton Abbey).