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Site-by-site rezonings to reposition distressed real estate is not an issue just for large cities. Highland, acity in southwest Illinois, is 6.4 square miles and has a popu- lation of 8,500. During a single meeting of the Combined Planning and Zoning Board on March 5, 2008, three parcels were proposed fo~ rezoning because they were distressed (CPZB minutes 030508, 2008). SPECIAL USE PERMIT/CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT FOR NONCONFORMING USES A special use or conditional use permit- same thing, different name-is often a help- ful avenue of escape from the constraints of the nonconforming use. These site-specific discretionary approvals can allow for lim- ited physical expansion and even some change in use for properties that predate existing zoning. For example, a two- or three-family house that is nonconforming _ as to the number of units and nonconform- ing as to side yards and lot coverage might be allowed to expand its footprint to add a much-needed first-floor bathroom or deck to the rear of the building. Modest improve- ments to existing nonconforming properties can assist in keeping them from becom- ing obsolescent and strengthen them economically. Salt Lake'City, for example, permits planned development as a conditional use where one criterion for approval is "[e]limination of blighted structures or incompatible uses through redevelop- mentor rehabilitation" (City Code Section 21A.54.150.A.8). The code's decision-making requirements direct that the planning com- missJon should consider whether the use wm"[ilmprove the character of the area by encouraging reinvestment and upgrading of surrounding properties" (City Code Section 21A.54.080.B.4.e). Similarly, such site-specific discretion- ary approvals can be applied to distressed prope~ies to reposition them. Criteria for the application of the distressed properties special use permit might include location in a designated area and evidence that the current size, layout, or use is uneconomic. Economic hardship is never a basis for a variance, but it can be for a special use permit. 'In Apache County, Arizona, if there is economic hardship from restrictions in use . in the Reserve Overlay Zone, there may be relief by allowing any use allowed anywhere subject to the granting of a conditional use (Zoning Ordinance Section 504.03.1). Speaking of variances . . . VARIANCES Variances are the Swiss Army Knife of land- use permitting. Intended by the drafters of the Standard State Zoning Enabling Act (1921, published 1924) to save regulations from constitutional attack when an indi- vidual property was rendered valueless, they have instead become the easy way out . of many ordinaryzoning limitations, except when someone challenges their issuance. Seldom can the applicant for a variance truly meet the practical difficulty and unneces- sary hardship requirements. Most variances granted are never appealed and escape scrutiny. Regardless, variances have come into play with distressed p'roperties. In Long Beach, California, a property owner recently requested a variance to a side yard ZONINGPRACTICE 12.09 AMERICAN PLANNING ASSOCIATION Ipage 3 8 9