Orange County Board of Zoning Adjustment: Procedures and Schedule

• •The BZA consists of seven members: one appointed by each District Commissioner and one at-large member appointed by the Mayor.
• •The BZA makes recommendations to the Board of County Commissioners regarding variances, special exceptions, and appeals of the Zoning Manager’s determination.
• •Applications must be submitted as a PDF to BZA@ocfl.net and are subject to a 3-business-day sufficiency review.
• •Variances are permitted for setbacks, lot size, and frontage, but 'Use Variances' are strictly prohibited.
• •Applicants must prove a unique hardship that is not self-created and that the variance is the minimum necessary for reasonable use of the property.
• •Financial loss, business competition, or purchasing property with the intent to violate restrictions are not valid grounds for a variance.
• •Applications have strict Wednesday 3PM deadlines; late or incomplete applications are postponed to the following month.
• •Orange Code and Vision 2050 are new land development regulations focusing on placemaking and context-based standards.
• •The county issued approximately 84,000 building permits valued at $2.3 billion in the period referenced.

Property owners seeking to deviate from standard zoning requirements, such as setbacks or lot size, must follow these specific application deadlines and criteria to obtain a variance or special exception.

Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.