“brick and mortar right”

I would like to hear from someone with zoning board experience. Even opponents of GZM admit Rauf and co. “have the right to build”. What does that mean. Legal right? Constitutional right? Moral right? Aesthetic right? I suppose Donald Trump has has the “right” to build just about anything anywhere. That doesn’t mean the zoning board will approve. As far as I know a zoning board can refuse on all sorts appropriate/inappropriate grounds and demand that the builders conform to all sorts of standards.