Our only concern is a black swan / cataclysmic event that we cannot predict or have not weathered. 

In all seriousness, again I found your interview extremely informative and motivating. 

When you use expensive money like that, time is your enemy and you need to be extremely confident in your ability to deliver on time, within your holding period estimates.

I dont want to sound insensitive but it is a concern and I am hoping to get others opinions.

I am more concerned with putting myself in a position to continue to expand my portfolio.

You may want to consider liability concerns about forming an entity and the pros and cons to that.

Regardless of the fact that it likely won't be approved, it is just a bad idea if it was approved.Here are my concerns and questions: No-one ever knows if their relationship will last 30 years. and I don't want to be in a 30 year contract with a significant other.

(Note however that the notice you posted concerns violations observed in March 2017.)

An extreme sellers market.

Some things you can do beforehand are: research the area to understand the local demographics and whether any similar type businesses have previously been approved, whether there are any currently in operation in the proposed area, if there are - evaluate what they are doing right or what they are doing wrong (how are they similar or dissimilar to your proposed property), reach out to the neighbors and get their input and try hard to get them on your side, reach out to the police department and listen to any concerns they might have, etc.