The body empowered to grant a variance from certain provisions in the zoning ordinance when literal enforcement would result in unnecessary hardship is known as the?

• A. Board of Adjustments
• B. City Council
• C. Planning Commission
• D. Zoning Administrator

Answer: (A)

A variance is relief from a zoning rule when following the rule would cause an unnecessary hardship due to the specific characteristics of the property. The body that handles these requests is the Board of Adjustments. This is a quasi-judicial, hearing-based body that weighs the applicant’s case, evidence, and neighborhood impact to decide whether a deviation from the zoning ordinance is appropriate.

The other entities have different roles. The City Council is the legislative body that adopts zoning rules and can approve changes to policy or maps, not typically the bodies that grant individual variances. The Planning Commission usually reviews and recommends zoning changes or special-use approvals, but it does not grant variances in most jurisdictions. The Zoning Administrator enforces the zoning code and interprets it for day-to-day administration, rather than granting variances.