The builder was initially upset when his plan was rejected by the Board with the recommendation that he come back with something real.
Rent on a garden apartment wouldn't have paid the taxes on the land.
BS. It's not the government's place to decide the economic viability of projects, nor any other buttinskis, either. I'm in the process of getting a simple task taken care of now -- something harmless that would have been rubberstamped 10 years ago. Bureaucrats have so much momentum that routine stuff is like pulling teeth.
My brother recently had a house built on a regular city lot with no issues or plan corrections. Explain to him his 6 month wait and a $12,000 building permit. It's obscene how much we power we have given these turds.