Question:
Leo owned a one-story, one-family dwelling in a single-family residential zoning district in Detroit. He attempted to sell the house with its adjoining lot for $138,500. Houses in the neighborhood generally sold for $120,000 to $125,000. Immediately to the west of Leo’s property was a gasoline service station. In addition, Leo’s property was located on a corner frequented with heavy traffic. Having received no offers from residence-use buyers during the period of over a year that the property was listed and offered for sale, Leo applied to the board of zoning appeals for a variance to permit the use of the property as a dental and medical clinic and to use the side yard for off-street parking. The variance would be subject to certain conditions, including the preservation of the building’s exterior as that of a one-family dwelling. Puritan-Greenfield Improvement Association, a nonprofit corporation, filed a complaint against Leo’s variance request. Discuss whether the variance should be granted.