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RELEVANT LINKS: <br />III. Legal standards <br />When considering a variance application, a city exercises so-called "quasi- <br />judicial" authority. This means that the city's role is limited to applying the <br />legal standard of practical difficulties to the facts presented by the <br />application. The city acts like a judge in evaluating the facts against the legal <br />standard. If the applicant meets the standard, then the variance may be <br />granted. In contrast, when the city writes the rules in zoning ordinance, the <br />city is exercising "legislative" authority and has much broader discretion. <br />A. Practical difficulties <br />"Practical difficulties" is a legal standard set forth in law that cities must <br />apply when considering applications for variances. It is a three -factor test <br />and applies to all requests for variances. To constitute practical difficulties, <br />all three factors of the test must be satisfied. <br />1. Reasonableness <br />The first factor is that the property owner proposes to use the property in a <br />reasonable manner. This factor means that the landowner would like to use <br />the property in a particular reasonable way but cannot do so under the rules <br />of the ordinance. It does not mean that the land cannot be put to any <br />reasonable use whatsoever without the variance. For example, if the variance <br />application is for a building too close to a lot line or does not meet the <br />required setback, the focus of the first factor is whether the request to place a <br />building there is reasonable. <br />2. Uniqueness <br />The second factor is that the landowner's problem is due to circumstances <br />unique to the property not caused by the landowner. The uniqueness <br />generally relates to the physical characteristics of the particular piece of <br />property, that is, to the land and not personal characteristics or preferences <br />of the landowner. When considering the variance for a building to encroach <br />or intrude into a setback, the focus of this factor is whether there is anything <br />physically unique about the particular piece of property, such as sloping <br />topography or other natural features like wetlands or trees. <br />League of Minnesota Cities Information Memo: 1/11/2019 <br />Land Use Variances Page 2 <br />