Duplex lost zoning rights due to extended vacancy

[Pete Bigit]

I saw several duplexes in a smaller town where the listing said “2 family being sold as a single family.” Upon asking the realtor what that was about he said - due to not being zoned as a permanent multi family area, the vacancy of over a year in one of the units nullified the multi family zoning.

Does anybody have any experience with this? He said appeals to the town zoning board almost always get denied. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

[Kenneth Garrett]

@Pete Bigit

Once they remove the use from a zoning district it’s very difficult to get it back.  Residential Districts are typically broken out into multiple districts such as R-1, R-2, R-3 and so forth.  Within each district are the minimum lot sizes, setbacks, lot coverage and uses, etc.  The process would be a public hearing before the plan commission or zoning board of appeals depends on the city.  They recommend to the city council for approval.  City council has the ultimate authority.  Check with the zoning department on the possibility of being successful.  Staff generally makes a recommendation to the board for approval.  Most times the board/committee will follow the recommendation.