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OVERVIEW OF VARIANCES

OVERVIEW OF VARIANCES. WHAT IS A VARIANCE?. A legal action that grants a deviation or variation from specific standards contained in the Unified Land Development Code when it can be shown by the property owner that five specific standards have been met. Why 5 ?

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OVERVIEW OF VARIANCES

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  1. OVERVIEW OF VARIANCES

  2. WHAT IS A VARIANCE? • A legal action that grants a deviation or variation from specific standards contained in the Unified Land Development Code when it can be shown by the property owner that five specific standards have been met. • Why 5? -1879 – New York City Tenement House Law required buildings provide air shaft and two toilets on each floor; -1900s – California (San Francisco – prohibited slaughterhouses from certain areas of the City; Los Angeles – Passed land use zoning ordinance) and New York City (adopts first zoning code in America)

  3. WHAT IS A VARIANCE? LITIGATION ENSUED!

  4. WHAT IS A VARIANCE? 1920s – American Bar Association produced the Model Zoning Code; subsequent modifications allowed for the variance process. Intent was to provide relief from strict (measurable) standards on case by case basis. Litigation ensued! Standards promulgated through litigation

  5. WHAT IS A VARIANCE? Granting of the variance will not be detrimental to the Unified Land Development Code – How do we know? • Condition(s) of the property are peculiar or different from other properties in the same district; • Conditions are not the result of actions by the applicant; • Application of the standard would force an undue hardship on a single property that other properties in the zoning district would not have to endure; • The variance is the minimum relief; 5. Variance will not be detrimental to City, surrounding area, or other property owners within the District.

  6. A variance does not allow: • Inconsistency with the Comprehensive Plan • A use otherwise prohibited in the Zoning District • Development intensity or density not allowed in the Zoning District • A Special Exception • Deviation from other Department or Agency Standards • Non-conformity because adjacent properties are • Violation of specific prohibitions or procedural requirements • Consideration based purely on economic reasons

  7. RECAP • Variances allow deviation to adopted zoning code when five standards can be met. • Five standards evolved from litigation. • Not granted to circumvent other laws • Variances continue to affect public policy – Jennings v. Dade County (1991) based upon County handling of variance – ex parte communications.

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