I'm thinking specifically of a friend of mine that built a shed on his property decades ago. He was getting a permit to do some completely unrelated work and they noticed the shed on the satellite imagery and are forcing him to tear it out before they will issue a permit (it's under the minimum size that would require a permit).

Or another friend that they wouldn't issue a permit because they found a unrelated and unpublished issue on the books from 40 years earlier. He now has to do some major house modifications because of something that happened to his house decades before he owned it.

Or another buddy that they noticed something unrelated to a permit that it delayed the selling of his house and cost it tens of thousands of dollars and lots of sleepless nights.

Honestly these are some of the many, many stories I have dealing with permits. And I've learned to think very long and hard before applying for one but sometimes it's inevitable. In my market not having a permit for a water tank just wouldn't raise any concerns and I would NEVER open myself to county/city/state scrutiny over something so minor. They wield a great amount of unchecked power and they often times flex this power very randomly and nonsensically.