That is the case in California. If you own property zoned residential and apply for a fully compliant building permit then it will almost always be approved (although fees may be high). Developers and property owners generally only run into long delays and battles with neighbors when they request variances or zoning changes.
This particular story is about a development which did comply with existing zoning but the neighbors try to stop it anyway, forcing local govt into a negotiation.
If you look at the photo of the lot you can see why: Beautiful rolling green hills. They didn't own the lot so they didn't have any right to stop the development. Nevertheless that's human nature.
That's why I chose the school bus example. You're supposed to get the part of the seat that your butt sits on, not the whole seat. But from childhood to adulthood, people just never change.
It'll be approved although sometimes you get neighbors who would get upset that your house shades their lawn. Typically you want to design your house to be compatible with the neighbors and the neighborhood. Los Angeles is an exception generally which is amazing b/c you get these great wonders of architecture that appear out of nowhere. These tend to be on bigger lots though.
