Also known as: zoning variance · variance
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A special administrative decision that allows particular properties to fall out of compliance with zoning rules. The decision permits uses or structures that the ordinance would otherwise prohibit when the owner demonstrates hardship unique to the parcel.
Zeke Zola sought a variance to add a third story to his home in a two-story residential zone. The board denied the request after finding no unique hardship. On appeal Zeke argued the denial rested on an evidentiary flaw that did not affect his substantial rights under the applicable standard.
Zara Zuberi owned a church camp closed by a county flood-zone ordinance. After the ban was lifted she sought compensation for the period of total deprivation. The court treated the interim restriction as a variance denial that required case-specific fairness analysis rather than automatic per se treatment.
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Zara Zhang applied for a variance to post a political sign larger than the city code allowed. The board refused. She challenged the denial as viewpoint discrimination within an unprotected category of speech, arguing the ordinance singled out certain messages while permitting others of equal size.
Zola Zanders owned beachfront land rendered unusable by a new coastal setback rule. She requested a variance to build a home. The agency denied relief, claiming the regulation advanced legitimate planning goals without eliminating all economic use of the parcel.
Zion Zhao sought a height variance for an office building. The city granted it only if Zhao recorded a public walkway easement across the site. Zhao sued, claiming the condition lacked an essential nexus to any impact caused by the extra stories.
Zion Zavala wanted to live with her grandsons in a single-family zone that limited occupancy to nuclear families. The city denied the variance. She challenged the ordinance as an unconstitutional restriction on the fundamental right to family living arrangements.
A condition on a variance is a taking unless it bears an essential nexus to impacts created by the proposed development. The easement must directly mitigate harms that would justify denying the variance outright. When the condition serves a preexisting public plan rather than project-specific effects, the nexus is absent and compensation is required.
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No. When the government has already imposed a concrete condition on a permit or variance, the claim is ripe. Courts do not require owners to pursue futile administrative steps that the ordinance does not provide.
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A variance allows noncompliance based on unique hardship to the parcel. A special exception is a use the ordinance itself permits when stated conditions are met. The board has no discretion to deny a qualifying special exception but retains discretion over variances.
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…from constructing a 55-story office building above the terminal. Moreover, the law permits the owner of a landmark to obtain a variance if the landmark cannot earn a reasonable return on its investment. Appellants have not applied for such a variance. They have not shown that the terminal cannot earn a reasonable…