Sometimes, the truth hits ya. The clubs have to start fixing the problem with the decline in membership.
May I suggest you DUCK!
Just whom do you think built up the AMA membership? Who negotiated the flying facilities. Who brokered the memberships for AMA? Who does all the WORK to keep a Club going? Who gets the blame when a Club fails. The CLUBS have always been the sales force for AMA. Without the Clubs there would be no AMA memberships and NO AMA.
OTOH: Why do the Clubs need AMA? (Lots of reasons, not all just insurance) However, why does AMA think it owes so little to its sales force? Why does AMA think realms of restrictive rules need be made for the purposes of "risk management"?
Within all that, AMA does do one thing FOR the clubs. That one item is all AMA memberships are the same (except age classes which doesn't matter} and the calendar year is maintained. Without that, the paperwork at the Club Level would be many times multiplied for those modelers that are working their butts off to keep the Club within the boundaries now levied by AMA.
Next Act: here comes the young crowd, just away from mommy always having the milk in the refrigerator, and those older guys trying to keep a club together don't always say "yes, dear" to him/her so the old guys are, of course, a big problem.
Why would a 22 year old college student like me want to go to a club with a bunch of old men who only want a certain type of aircraft in their club? I don't. I want to hang out with guys that don't care who flys what. For some reason the leaders of RC flying clubs are old men who have a huge ego when it comes to the hobby. Don't blame the AMA. Go out and create a club that accepts anyone with any kind of aircraft.
People don't say "oh, the AMA is 58 dollars a year...thats too much" they say "Man, whats up with these guys, I don't want to join the club....Im going to go fly on my own with a few buddies." Its the clubs responsibility to make sure people feel welcome and comfortable. If they do that people wouldnt have a problem joining the AMA.
Then by all means, go and start a new club. Negotiate a place to fly. Be as free with your choices as you wish. That is probably how the original club got started. IMO any Club has the right to restrict or be as open as the Club so votes to do.
Your concern is fine and sometimes wake-up calls do good things. For many years I lived in sub-divisions. I despise Home-Owners' Associations. I finally moved out in the country. Many times the work in up-keep but I am free of restrictions on what I do with my property. You can do the same with your new club.
Club volunteer officers spend countless hours of their hobby/sport time keeping a club going. Sometimes for the sake of the Club, they may have to be a bit on the firm side with various individuals, especially some that have some inner thing making them push the limits as far as they can. Get involved in the Club, WORK, politics, WORK, activities, and the WORK. There lies an opportunity to make a change.