Criteria for Establishing Unnecessary Hardship for Variances in Charlotte

In the City of Charlotte, an applicant must demonstrate "unnecessary hardship" to the UDO Board of Adjustment to receive a variance from the City of Charlotte Unified Development Ordinance. This hardship must result from physical conditions unique to the property, such as size or topography, and the variance must be consistent with the spirit, purpose, and intent of the City of Charlotte regulations while ensuring public safety [Section 37.8.A.13.a].

General Standards for Unnecessary Hardship

To grant a variance, the City of Charlotte UDO Board of Adjustment must find that carrying out the strict letter of the City of Charlotte Unified Development Ordinance would result in unnecessary hardships. The City of Charlotte Unified Development Ordinance outlines four specific criteria that must all be met to establish this hardship:

Hardship Criterion	Requirement Details
Strict Application	The hardship must result from the strict application of the City of Charlotte UDO regulations [Section 37.8.A.13.a.i].
Property Peculiarity	The hardship must arise from conditions peculiar to the property, such as location, size, or topography [Section 37.8.A.13.a.ii].
Not Self-Created	The hardship must not result from actions taken by the applicant or property owner [Section 37.8.A.13.a.iii].
Spirit and Intent	The requested variance must be consistent with the spirit, purpose, and intent of the regulation [Section 37.8.A.13.a.iv].

Property Peculiarities vs. Personal Circumstances

The City of Charlotte UDO specifies that hardships must be related to the land itself. Hardships resulting from personal circumstances are not common to the neighborhood or the general public and may not serve as the basis for granting a variance [Section 37.8.A.13.a.ii]. However, the City of Charlotte may grant a variance when necessary to make a reasonable accommodation under the Federal Fair Housing Act for a person with a disability [Section 37.8.A.13.a.ii].

Self-Created Hardship Exceptions

While the City of Charlotte generally prohibits variances for self-created hardships, the act of purchasing property with existing knowledge of City of Charlotte UDO restrictions is not considered a self-created hardship [Section 37.8.A.13.a.iii].

Specific Hardship Considerations for Floodplain Areas

When an applicant seeks a variance within City of Charlotte flood hazard areas, the UDO Board of Adjustment considers additional technical factors to determine if a hardship exists. These evaluations include:

Safety and Danger: The danger that materials may be swept into the floodway, potentially injuring others, and the danger to life and property due to flooding or erosion damage [Section 37.8.A.13.b.i].
Facility Attributes: The necessity of a waterfront location for the facility and the availability of alternative locations not subject to flooding [Section 37.8.A.13.b.i].
Compatibility: How the proposed use aligns with existing and anticipated development in the City of Charlotte [Section 37.8.A.13.b.i].
Emergency Access: The safety of access to the property during a community base flood for ordinary and emergency vehicles [Section 37.8.A.13.b.i].

Hardship in Water Supply Watershed Protection Areas

For variances within the City of Charlotte Water Supply Watershed Protection areas (Article 23), the code distinguishes between Minor and Major watershed variances based on the "relaxation" of standards.

Variance Type	Hardship/Relaxation Threshold
Minor Watershed Variance	Relaxation by a factor less than 10% of any management requirement under the Low-Density Option, or less than 5% of any requirement under the High-Density Option [Section 37.8.A.13.c.iii].
Major Watershed Variance	Relaxation by a factor greater than 10% under the Low-Density Option, or greater than 5% under the High-Density Option [Section 37.8.A.13.c.ii].

For these areas, the City of Charlotte UDO Board of Adjustment and the North Carolina Environmental Management Commission must ensure the project provides equal or better protection of North Carolina waters than the standard rules [Section 37.8.A.13.c.iv].

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