Zoning Waiver Rules. Although facilities closely related to a non-profit organization’s mission are generally exempt from financial scrutiny, a development for purely financial gain, regardless of the ultimate use of funds, must identify hardship caused by the site, and prove lack of reasonable return on investment, in order to obtain waivers.


The BSA requested, as they have done in other cases, a financial analyses of the for-profit part of the proposed development, and for As-of-Right buildings that can be built within existing zoning.

Therefore, in order to justify zoning variances needed for their desired building, CSI must show that no As-of-Right building can produce an adequate return on investment on the for-profit part of the development.

Tricks are needed  because one or more As-of-Right development alternatives are indeed more than reasonably profitable, and that fact is obvious.  Since the proposal on its face does not qualify for variances, techniques must be used to prove the unprovable.