That is definitely true. I work on the infrastructure/engineering side of municipal government but I have worked on the private side in companies that also do land planning. Developers always promise anything the city wants in order to get approval for a tentative map, then phase the construction. Phase 1 residential goes in and gets certificate of occupancy, next day "phase 1 went way over budget, we just cant do it right now." Not all developments go this way but a lot do. I am always very careful to structure conditions in such a way that they at are obliged to construct all public infrastructure and as much of the development as I possibly can prior to giving them public works signoff.