I don't think exercising your right to vote in local elections and ballot initiatives and speak your mind about local issues is "too much control." It's part of

I don't think exercising your right to vote in local elections and ballot initiatives and speak your mind about local issues is "too much control." It's part of living in a democracy that has some measure of municipal autonomy. In this particular case, most of the local opposition is because city government is fast-tracking the project while neglecting their own regulatory processes and distrust of the developer (for good reasons, frankly).. Not only do local residents want the community to keep certain qualities in that neighborhood, it's encoded into the law. That wasn't done by one person with too much control, it was done by an elected body with the consent of the governed. But I don't want to get into the specifics, the gist is I can empathize with someone that wants to preserve the community they live in.