Illegal 4th Unit

[Dustin Smith]

Hello BP conmunity. Im currently in the process of acquiring a 4 plex that has some shady history, especially when it comes to the basement unit, which apparently had a water line break somewhere and is currently out of commission.  And being that it's out of commission, it's cheap and I can increase my equity really quick by bringing it back to habitable.  I've overstayed my inspection contingency already, but I've had several red flags come up over the last week that just have drawn the process out.  There is not a whole lot of information on the basement unit with the city, and I have spent a lot of time at the city's building inspection office trying to get answers about code issues, specifically ceiling height, which is going to be cutting hairs whether or not it meets requirements.  In all the rush of code issues and what not, I completely overlooked zoning.  According to the zoning law, the lot can only hold 3.4 units on the amount of land present.  The property cash flows with just the three units, but not enough for me to be interested.  There is the possibility of getting the lot rezoned, but it's a crap shoot and I'd have to own the property to petition a rezoning.  After looking over the land development code, I can't find anything different between the requirements of MR-2, which it is currently zoned as, and MR-3, which is what I would be petitioning for.  Has anybody had any luck petitioning for a rezoning?  I love the property, but I would be forever disgusted if I purchased it and then couldn't redo the 4th unit.  Any insight or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!