> just being a resident of a city doesn’t give you standing to sue over any decision that has a tenuous adverse effect on you
Why not? If you are impacted, why not? When do you have a standing then?
Visitors out of town have less standing than the people paying taxes to the town, that is fair, but the city IS the people, each and every person, not an abstract third party that herds them like cattle.
The impact should need to be material and related to some legal right you have, it seems to me. In general you cannot sue to enforce a contract or agreement you are not a party to, even if the outcome of adhering to that contract affects you.