VARIANCES AREN’T SO EASY For instance, you may want to operate a small business out of your home, but find that town ordinances forbid it in your neighborhood. Or, the certified plot plan for your property shows that the home you've built extends by several inches into the required setback. Either of these situations, might prompt you to seek a "variance," an exception to the zoning law. To do so under Massachusetts law, three conditions must be satisfied. First, the property owner must identify specific reasons which, due to existing local ordinances, would cause him undue hardship. (It is important to note that property owners cannot knowingly violate a town bylaw and then, claiming hardship, request a variance.) Second, the zoning board must determine that a variance will not create substantial detriment to the public good. Third, the board must be certain that the variance will not compromise the intent of the ordinance in question. To arrive at a decision, a zoning board schedules a public hearing to which it invites "parties of interest" (owners of land abutting, directly opposite or within 300 feet of the property line in question). If granted, the variance becomes effective upon its recording at the county registry of deeds. If denied, the board's ruling may be appealed; however, it's not likely the decision will be reversed. After all, requesting a variance is, in essence, asking permission to break the law. So variances are serious business. And towns treat them as such, granting few. AMERICAN HERITAGE REALTY |
While sometimes frustrating and without apparent purpose, zoning laws really are justified. Designed to protect a town's property and activities, their hallmark is permanence. Zoning laws can be put to the test for a variety of reasons.
|
