It's your "within reason" where all the debate lies.
It happened to me, and just like it happens to virtually everybody in the same situation.
In the Bay Area somehow we have moved to where people somehow have power to stop building even when the building meets the current zoning laws. This really needs to change. There is some movement at the state level to help with this problem and I hope they pass legislation that, if your building plan is withing zoning laws, you get to build it.