Variance (land use)

Encyclopedia : V : VA : VAR : Variance (land use)

In zoning, a variance is an administrative exception to land use regulations, generally in order to compensate for a deficiency in a real property which would prevent the property from complying with the zoning regulation. Variances are required in the United States in order to prevent a regulatory taking.

An example: suppose a "low density residential" zone requires that a house have a setback (the distance from the edge of the property to the edge of the building) of no less than 100 feet (30 m). If a particular property were only 100 feet (30 m) deep, it would be impossible to build a house on the property, potentially resulting in an unlawful regulatory taking. A variance exempting the property from the setback regulation would allow a house to be built.

Variances are typically only granted after undergoing a statutory review process against specified approval criteria. Although review criteria vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, three basic criteria are common the vast majority of variance ordinances:

The variance is required due to specific site conditions (topography, soil conditions, etc.),
Granting the variance will not result in a hazard to public health or safety, and,
Granting the variance will not result in a grant of special privilege to the property owner (in other words, any other property owner with similar site conditions could obtain a similar variance: this criteria is often addressed by citing precedent)

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.