Variance

A variance is permission, granted by the Board of Standards and Appeals, to depart from the strict requirements of the Zoning Resolution on a specific lot — using land for a purpose the district forbids (a use variance) or building outside the bulk rules (a bulk variance). The applicant must satisfy the statutory findings, centered on unique physical conditions of the lot that create practical difficulty or unnecessary hardship not shared by neighboring properties, and the relief granted is the minimum necessary.

Variances run with the land, typically with recorded conditions that bind future owners. In diligence, an existing variance explains an otherwise impossible building; conditions attached to it can constrain redevelopment in ways the district rules alone would not predict.