Variance

A variance is an exception. The zoning code sets a rule, a project cannot meet it, and the owner asks a zoning board of appeals or similar body to waive it for this one site. Typical requests involve setbacks, height, lot coverage, floor area ratio, parking ratios, or the number of units allowed. In most jurisdictions the applicant must show a hardship arising from the property itself, though the standard is applied with varying strictness.

Variances are decided at public hearings, usually after notice to neighbors, and the board has discretion. That means uncertainty. A developer who needs a variance to make a project work must spend money on design, legal, and consultant fees before knowing whether the project can be built as designed, and must plan for the possibility of a denial, an appeal, or an approval with conditions that change the economics.

For housing costs, variances matter in two ways. First, a variance process adds carrying costs and soft costs in proportion to its length and complexity. Second, when a code routinely requires variances to build what the market wants, the code is effectively discretionary even where it appears to allow development by right, and land is priced accordingly. A code that reflects what will actually be built needs fewer variances and produces housing at lower cost.