Having been through stuff like this with developers trying to tear down Historic Houses to build condo developments,I can tell you that if City Councils or Planning Boards are determined one way or another on a case like this, they can damn well do anything they want, anywhere in the process, to either approve or disapprove a developer/entrepreneur’s plans.
These things can and do take 2-5 years to reach a conclusion in municipalities. The ONLY way to guarantee this place will be built, and built because it SHOULD be built, is for an engaged civic activist group to get involved, work every day for it, and against those who want to stop it, question and expose their political motives, make an argument on a practical level for why it will be good for the area, etc.,etc. Make noise, get publicity, flood your town’s monthly meeting with a few hundred people, and not give up.
That is the only way you’ll win. Otherwise the opposition will play with nonsense like “the landscaping plan doesn’t coincide with our Master Plan or our Building Codes”.
And when they lose that argument they will move on to some other “reason”. Luckily, their time is running out, and their boy will not be in office after November.
Actually, it was two lesbo board members that struck down my plans. Funny thing was, when I asked for an explanation of what ‘too French’ means, they simply informed me that it was not their position to design the landscape and that was all they had to say on the matter.
Architectural review boards can/ are a pain in the butt. Most are controlled by libs with too much time on their hands.
No kidding. Local zoning boards are the closest thing to commissars that I have ever dealt with. Just horrible. And you have to stand there and say, “please sir...can I have another?”
Good points. What this illustrates is the danger of over-regulation. What you described can extend to everything we do as regulations grow.