Local government is so messed up. No you can't have that unattached mother in law house because it doesn't "Match the Character of the City", but Jeff Bezos can build his 6000 acre datacenter in your water restricted city and they will re-zone and bend over backwards. Meanwhile your water has turned brown and your power keeps cutting out because the city infrastructure is 60 years old and has been maintained with barely functional fixes.
Its no wonder nothing gets down when you have these kinds of people stepping up and making it their lifes goal to block any change.