2025-06-03 P & Z Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

Residents can oen provide important facts to help the city address these factors, but unsubstantiated opinions and reactions to a request are not a legitimate basis for a variance decision. If neighborhood opinion is a signi Ƽ cant basis for the variance decision, it could be overturned by a court if challenged. Conditions A city may impose conditions when it grants a variance. Conditions must be directly related to and bear a rough proportionality to the impact created by the variance (Minn. Stat. § 462.357, subd. 6). For instance, if a variance is granted to exceed a height limit, any conditions attached should presumably relate to lessening the eect of excess height. Variance procedural issues Public hearings Minnesota statute does not clearly require a public hearing before a variance is granted or denied. Many practitioners and attorneys agree that the best practice is to hold public hearings on all variance requests. A public hearing allows the city to establish a record and elicit facts to help determine if the application meets the practical diculties factors. Past practices While past practice may be instructive, it cannot replace the need for analysis of all three of the practical diculties factors for each and every variance request. In evaluating a variance request, cities are not bound by decisions made for prior variance requests. If a city Ƽ nds it is issuing many variances to a particular zoning standard, the city should consider amending the ordinance to change the standard. Time limit A written request for a variance is subject to Minnesotas 60-day rule. It must be approved or denied within 60 days of the time it is submitted to the city. A city may extend the time period for an additional 60 days, but only if it does so in writing before expiration of the initial 60-day period. Under the 60-day rule, failure to approve or deny a request within the statutory time period is considered an approval (Minn. Stat. § 15.99). Documentation Whatever its decision, a city should create a record that supports it. If denying the variance, the 60-day rule requires the reasons for the denial be put in writing within the statutory time period (Minn. Stat. § 15.99, subd. 2). Even if the variance is approved, a written statement explaining the decision is advisable. The written statement should address each of the three practical diculties factors and list the relevant facts and conclusions for each factor. For more about Ƽ ndings of fact, see Taking the Mystery out of Findings of Fact Variances once granted N9JA9F;=AK9HJGH=JLQJA?@LL@9LȆJMFKOAL@L@=D9F<Ƿȇ2@9LAKǸAL9LL9;@=KLG9F<:=F=Ƽ ts the land and is not limited to a particular landowner. A variance is typically Ƽ led with the county 55