Permits and Basement Update

So we've ceased meeting weekly with our designer because now we're just waiting for the city to grant building permits. Today, we met for the first time in a long time with our contractor and designer to discuss the basement layout. The city had given us feedback that the basement did not have enough ventilation. grrr...so now we are adding a sliding door that opens up to a small patio from the basement. This means, of course, that our construction costs are increasing before we've even started. ;|

So why has it taken SO long for the city to issue permits?
Whenever we resubmit the plans to the city planning department, the plans go to a different person who evaluates the project and then either approves of it or comes back with a list of to-do's. Of course, each person is going to find something wrong with our plans. And no matter how minor the change, we have to resubmit everything again if they didn't give us an approval. Also, since the city has 30 days from the day of submission to return with a verdict, they've been getting back to us on the 28/29th day, barely within the deadline. I feel very bad for our designer who actually has to deal with all of this.