In Lawrenceville Stakeholders v. Pittsburgh Zoning Bd. of Adjustment, a property developer appealed from the Court of Common Pleas’s order reversing an order from the Pittsburgh Zoning Board that granted the developer four-dimensional variances from the Pittsburgh Zoning Code. The Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court noted that a dimensional variance requires a lesser showing of need than a use variance. But even considering the lesser showing needed, the property developer still offered too little to qualify for the variance. The Court held that the evidence presented to the zoning board “amounts to conclusory figures in support of its quest for profitability as measured by the purchase price it has agreed to pay for the property.” Profitability alone, the Court held, is insufficient and affirmed the Court of Common Pleas.
