You're not wrong, but I'm not sure what's a better alternative. Think of it in a different scope: government contracts are also expensive because the have to b

You're not wrong, but I'm not sure what's a better alternative. Think of it in a different scope: government contracts are also expensive because the have to be open to competition. A lot of the red tape could be reduced with no-bid contracts, but people understand the corruption risk tradeoff is generally not worth it. In your example, it seems like the NIMBYism is the root cause, not the process by which NIMBYism is wielded.