The neighbors can be the worst. We had two that were fighting in our subdivision. It started when one did not like that the other ran a small consulting business from their home and might have one or two cars occasionally parked in front of the house. So the neighbor they were complaining about saw a new dormer on the complainer's house and no building permit posted. Called the gubmint agency (in NC a stickler for accuracy and fussy about it). Oh, my the trouble they were in. And on and on.
We not only have to deal with building permeits but Certificates of Appropriateness due to the historic designation of our neighborhood. Of course, our house is non-historic but it does not matter.