He was blocked by two nearby competitors. Everyone here seems to think they are just being greedy and corrupt and don't have a valid objection.
Maybe there simply isn't enough demand to support three ice cream shops.
Alternate story in a universe where he got to open:
"All three shops have died, unable to survive the pandemic and general lack of demand for ice cream. The other two might have survived the pandemic had a third shop not opened in the neighborhood. Now he's just as deeply in debt as in this universe and other lives were also ruined."
You don't know that the alternate path is all happy, shiny success and only did not happen because evil bureaucracy, bwa ha ha.
Maybe there simply isn't enough demand to support three ice cream shops.
Alternate story in a universe where he got to open:
"All three shops have died, unable to survive the pandemic and general lack of demand for ice cream. The other two might have survived the pandemic had a third shop not opened in the neighborhood. Now he's just as deeply in debt as in this universe and other lives were also ruined."
You don't know that the alternate path is all happy, shiny success and only did not happen because evil bureaucracy, bwa ha ha.