Opinion ID: 2355263
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The plaintiffs' variance applications.

Text: Chapter I § V B(3) of the Ordinance gives the Board power to grant variances where, owing to special conditions, a literal enforcement of the provisions of this Code would result in unnecessary hardship. 30 M.R.S.A. § 4963(2)(C) (1978 and Supp.1983-1984) provides that a zoning board of appeals may grant a variance in strict compliance with the terms of § 4963(3). Subsection (3) reads: 3. Variance. A variance may be granted by the board only where strict application of the ordinance, or a provision thereof, to the petitioner and his property would cause undue hardship. The words undue hardship as used in this subsection mean: A. That the land in question cannot yield a reasonable return unless a variance is granted; B. That the need for a variance is due to the unique circumstances of the property and not to the general conditions in the neighborhood; C. That the granting of a variance will not alter the essential character of the locality; and D. That the hardship is not the result of action taken by the applicant or a prior owner. A municipality may, in a zoning ordinance, adopt additional limitations on the granting of a variance, including, but not limited to, a provision that a variance may only be granted for a use permitted in a particular zone. As noted previously, the burden was on the plaintiffs as variance applicants before the Board to prove by competent evidence that they met all the statutory requirements for the granting of variances. See Sibley v. Inhabitants of the Town of Wells, 462 A.2d at 30; Driscoll v. Gheewalla, 441 A.2d at 1029. The Board found that the plaintiffs met statutory requirements B and D: unique circumstances and hardship not the result of the applicant's action. Because the Board was unpersuaded that the plaintiffs' lots could not yield a reasonable return without variance approval and that variance approval would not alter the essential character of the locality, the Board concluded that the plaintiffs failed to prove that strict application of the Ordinance to their land would cause undue hardship. After examining the record on the Board's decision that the plaintiffs failed to prove that absent setback and area requirement variances they would be denied a reasonable return on their land, we cannot conclude that the Board's decision was arbitrary or capricious. Reasonable return is not maximum return. Barnard v. Zoning Board of Appeals of the Town of Yarmouth, 313 A.2d 741, 749 (Me.1974). In Barnard v. Zoning Board of Appeals of the Town of Yarmouth, the Court said that although denial of a variance would prevent the plaintiff from  increasing the value of the land, denial would not make the land unmarketable. See id. The reasonable return prong of the undue hardship test is met where strict application of the zoning ordinance would result in the practical loss of all beneficial use of the land. (citations omitted). Thorton v. Lothridge, 447 A.2d 473, 475 (Me.1982). The plaintiffs relied on the testimony of a real estate agent that if variances were granted, each of the plaintiffs five proposed lots would be worth $25,000 to $30,000. The record does not address the value of the lots for other than residential use. Given the lots' position between water and road, the lots would be worthless as residential property without setback variances. The plaintiffs failed to prove, however, that other beneficial uses did not exist for their property. On the evidence presented the Board was not compelled to conclude that the undue hardship test had been satisfied. [6]