Land development regulation in Florida often provides for several types of exceptions:
Variances in Florida
First are variances. Variances are often available to a land development regulation upon a showing at a quasi-judicial public hearing that some factor outside of the control of the applicant deprives the applicant of reasonable use of the land.
Vested Rights
Second are vested rights. Many land development regulations allow protections to property owners for rights that are vested before a subsequent change in land development regulations. There are often critical time limits in such exceptions.
Non-Conformities
Third are non-conformities. Land uses that were legal at one time but are no longer legal under existing land development regulations are referred to as legal non-conformities. Many land development regulations provide a procedure to reconstruct or modify existing legal non-conformities.
These possible exceptions are often highly fact-specific. Contact our Land Use and Zoning attorneys if you have issues or questions concerning these variances, special exceptions and conditional uses in Florida.
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