Yes, Almost every city in America have these laws in place to allow them (the cities) the authority to act. Most often they use this as the big stick lurking behind whatever carrot or alternative they may offer to those that have not obtained permits to correct the situation. In their emperical form, these authorities (the law, no the officers that enforce) do serve the greater good in a city to remove abandoned cars, make sure derelict buildings don't become crack houses for example, but can also be taken to the extreme such as the lawn patrol- actually getting out to measure one's grass length or counting if we have one chicken too many!
I can see that some don't like to permit or jump through hoops every time we want to do something, but it can be a matter of public safety. After all, since I live in a condo right now and if one Sparky wanna-be that thinks he's an electrician two doors down from me makes a mistake in wire gauge or Amp load, it can cost the rest of the occupants in our connected building everything we own if it fails and catches fire. At least with a single family dwelling its only him that suffers. Besides, in the long run having the permit gives you peace of mind that we are being good neighbors and helps cut down the paperwork in a sale or purchase of a property with coops/add-ons/ improvements on them.
