Use variances shall not be granted. If a change of use is necessary to make feasible use of the land, the applicant should file a petition for zone change. Use variances are specifically prohibited in floodplain and shoreland districts. In granting variances, the Board may impose special conditions to ensure that the public welfare will not be damaged. The power of the Board to attach conditions to a variance to protect adjoining property and preserve the essential character of the neighborhood is well established.
Variances attach to the property as a permanent right.
Once the variance is granted, it is permanently applicable to the property. A new owner of the property may make use of the variance that was granted to the previous owner if any conditions that are attached to the variance are met. An applicant for a variance must establish that application of dimensional standards in the ordinance causes unnecessary hardship, that is, unnecessary hardship is present where in the absence of a variance, no reasonable use can be made be made of the property. For example, if a house which was nonconforming because of setbacks was destroyed by fire and there were no other buildable sites on the residentially zoned parcel, then reconstruction on the footprint of the destroyed structure could likely be authorized by variance of the setback standard. Expansion beyond the original building footprint could not be justified unless the applicant could show that without it, the property would be rendered useless.