It certainly looks like that from far away, but get close enough to a real permit application, and you'll see that there are so many edge cases, and every situa

It certainly looks like that from far away, but get close enough to a real permit application, and you'll see that there are so many edge cases, and every situation is so unique, that the exception always defines the rule. I'm willing to wager that a govt. employee processing, let's say renovation permits, sees no more five applications in their entire service history that are textbook as in can be approved without any required corrections. Extend that to any other application, and you'll quickly see the value of an experienced government employee helping you navigate the bureaucracy. If you haven't yet, then you are likely very young and/or your parents have taken care of everything for you to date. And before you blame the civil servant for the byzantine rulebooks, I want to rush to remind you that those civil servants only interpret the laws/rules. They have as much hand in creating them as you or I.