Residential · When the lot won't allow the build, we make the case for relief.
Variance Applications
When a setback, height, or lot-coverage rule blocks the design, a variance is how you get relief. We prepare the application, build the hardship argument, and represent the project at the hearing.
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“Permit-ready in a week instead of a month. David caught two tabulation errors before submission that would have bounced us. Worth every dollar.”— Custom Home Builder, Anna Maria Island
What a variance actually is
A variance is formal, board-granted permission to build outside one specific dimensional rule — a setback, a height limit, a lot-coverage cap — because the property itself makes strict compliance impractical. It doesn't rezone the property and it doesn't authorize a new use; the underlying zoning stays exactly the same, and only that one numeric standard is relaxed, for that parcel alone.
Boards don't grant a variance because a design would be nicer with one. They grant it when a hardship tied to the land — an irregular lot shape, a grade change, a coastal-construction setback line, a nonconforming lot platted decades before the current code — makes the rule genuinely unworkable. "I'd prefer more house" fails that test everywhere; a lot narrower than the code ever anticipated usually passes it. We assess which side of that line your property sits on before we ever file.
What a variance can — and can't — fix
These four are what a variance actually solves — and the two things it can never do, no matter how strong the case.
- Setbacks — Relief from the minimum distance a structure must keep from a property line, street, or water body — the setback variance we file most.
- Height limits — Relief from a district's maximum building height, often paired with a coastal or view-corridor restriction.
- Lot coverage & impervious surface — Relief from the percentage of a lot that structures, driveways, or pool decks may occupy — see lot coverage for how the math works.
- Coastal construction lines — Relief when a property's position relative to a coastal-construction setback line makes the standard dimensional rule unworkable.
- Not a new use — A variance can't authorize a use the zoning district doesn't already allow — that needs a conditional use approval instead.
- Not more density — A variance can't increase the number of units or the density a parcel is zoned for, no matter how strong the hardship case.
How the variance process works
The deciding board's name and the exact clock change county to county, but the shape of the process holds across most of Florida. Here's the version we run most often.
- 1Confirm the hardship
We test whether a genuine, property-based hardship exists — an irregular lot, a grade change, a nonconforming parcel platted before the current code — before we recommend filing at all.
- 2Prepare the application and site data
We assemble the variance application, survey and site data, and the written hardship narrative the board's criteria require.
- 3Staff review and public notice
Most jurisdictions require a staff review before the file goes to hearing, plus mailed or published notice to nearby owners, typically weeks ahead of the meeting.
- 4The hearing
We represent the request in front of the deciding body — the Board of Zoning Appeals in unincorporated Sarasota County, the Board of Adjustment in the City of Sarasota, a Hearing Officer in Manatee County — and answer the hardship questions on the record.
- 5Decision and any conditions
The board votes at the hearing — approve, deny, or approve with conditions. We confirm any conditions are ones you can actually build with before the file moves forward.
- 6Fold it into the permit
An approved variance gets fed straight into the permit package so it doesn't become a missing document at submission.
A denied variance isn't a free retry. Most boards won't rehear the same request for months, and a petition that reads as an attempt to get more house rather than solve a real hardship can sour the board on a resubmittal entirely. The hardship case has to be right the first time, not adjusted after a denial.
Variance or conditional use — which one do you need
A variance and a conditional use approval solve two different problems, and mixing them up costs a filing cycle. A variance relaxes a dimensional number — a setback, a height limit, a coverage cap — for a property with a genuine hardship. A conditional use approval, called a special exception in Sarasota County's Unified Development Code, grants permission for a use the district allows only with discretionary approval — a use that's off-limits outright without it.
The case you build is different too: a variance argument rests on the property's physical constraints; a conditional use case rests on managing a use's traffic, intensity, or neighborhood impact. If your project needs both — an unusual lot that also wants a use requiring discretionary approval — we scope and file both applications together instead of letting one stall the other.
Working alongside
Frequently asked questions
- What qualifies as a hardship for a variance?
- A hardship has to come from the property itself — an irregular lot, a grade change, a coastal-construction setback — not from what you'd prefer to build. We assess whether a real hardship exists before filing.
- What's the difference between a variance and a conditional use approval?
- A variance grants relief from a dimensional standard — a setback, height limit, or lot-coverage cap — because of a hardship tied to the property. A conditional use approval (called a special exception in Sarasota County) grants permission for a use the zoning district only allows with discretionary approval. A variance changes a number; a conditional use changes what you're allowed to do with the land. We handle both, and we'll tell you which one your project actually needs.
- Which board decides a variance in my area?
- It depends on the jurisdiction. Most Sarasota County variances go to the Board of Zoning Appeals at a single monthly hearing; the City of Sarasota uses its Board of Adjustment; Manatee County routes variances to a Hearing Officer instead of a board. We confirm the right body and process for your specific parcel.
- How long does a variance take to get approved?
- It depends heavily on the jurisdiction — some counties decide most variances at a single monthly hearing in as little as six to eight weeks; others run closer to three to six months once notice and staff review are factored in. We give you a realistic timeline once we know which board has jurisdiction over your parcel.
- Can I appeal if a variance is denied?
- It depends on the jurisdiction. In the City of Sarasota, for example, a Board of Adjustment decision is final and appealable only to Circuit Court within 30 days; other jurisdictions run their own appeal windows. We'll tell you honestly whether a stronger resubmittal or an appeal is the better move before you spend money on either.
- Does a variance change the zoning on my property?
- No. The zoning district and every other rule stay exactly the same — a variance relaxes one specific dimensional standard for one specific parcel. If you need a broader change, that's a rezoning, a separate and usually longer process.
- What happens after the variance is approved?
- We fold the approved variance directly into your permit package so the relief is documented and ready when permit management begins — it shouldn't cost you a single extra day at submission.
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