There was a recent Granola Shotgun blog post talking about a new wine tasting room being stuck for months in a local board review process over the proposed color of white for the building, and being required to have a parking space for each bar stool. These kinds of regulatory hurdles really put into perspective how good software developers have it.

https://granolashotgun.com/2017/08/04/the-precariat-shoppe/

In SF this happened recently with Aziza.

https://sf.eater.com/2017/6/8/15762820/aziza-closed-reopen-s...

>>> According to Lahlou, “Once we were closed past 60 days, the restaurant was seen as an entirely new business in the city’s eyes. They are asking for all kinds of upgrades.” Among them: a new fire wall and evening out the floors so that they’re all on the same level for ADA compliance.

That last requirement might be debilitating. “Contractors have given me estimates and it’s cheaper to demolish the whole building than to level off the floors in the existing structure,” said Lahlou. Estimated cost for demolition is $3 million — a bill that Lahlou says he can’t take on “if he ever wants to pay investors back.”

I'm not here to say that the permitting process that we have is a good idea. But I don't think that everything else is cake.

Regulatory hell