How well one gets along with their neighbors play into this sort of thing. Folks with an axe to grind are happy to drop a dime when they see contractor vehicle activity, construction related noise, etc.
Well that's true...which makes it good policy to not provoke disputes....and live spread out.
'course when I lived in South Haven, it was like the wild west out there...people adding whole rooms outside the present house's envelope or building 4 car garages on less than a quarter acre- no permits whether it showed or not.