Reliable engineering shows that a 10-acre site has a maximum physical capacity of 3 units per acre over the whole site. Zoning permits 4 units per acre, and no other constraint applies. What is the maximum number of units physically possible on the site?
Correct Answer
B) 30 units (3 × 10)
The physical cap gives 10×3=30 units. The separate zoning allowance would permit 40 units but does not increase engineering capacity. Averaging to 35 has no basis. Legal permissibility and physical possibility are different criteria; neither this unit count nor meeting both caps alone establishes financial feasibility or maximum productivity.
Why This Is the Correct Answer
Option B is correct because the physical cap is 3 units per acre × 10 acres = 30 units. Zoning permits 4 units per acre, but legal permission does not raise the engineering capacity. The physical limit therefore controls the maximum unit count asked for.
Why the Other Options Are Wrong
Option A: Cannot be determined from the facts
Option A, cannot be determined from the facts, is wrong because the stem gives both the site area and the physical density, so 10 × 3 = 30 units is directly calculable.
Option C: 35 units (average of 3 and 4 × 10)
Option C, 35 units, averages the two densities ((3 + 4) ÷ 2 × 10 = 35), which has no basis; the physical cap gives 10 × 3 = 30 units.
Option D: 40 units (4 × 10)
Option D, 40 units, uses the zoning density (4 × 10 = 40), but the question asks what follows from the physical cap, which is 10 × 3 = 30 units.
The tighter limit wins
When legal and physical limits differ, the lower one caps what can actually be built.
How to use: Use this when a question gives both a zoning density and a physical capacity.
Exam Tip
Do not average competing limits; identify which constraint the question asks about or which one binds.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- -Using the zoning density when the physical cap is lower
- -Averaging legal and physical densities
- -Assuming a unit count that meets both caps is automatically financially feasible
Concept Deep Dive
Analysis
This question tests the difference between what is legally permitted and what is physically possible. Zoning allows 40 units, but engineering limits the site to 30 units. The question asks for the count that follows from the physical cap, so multiply the physical density by the site area.
Background Knowledge
Highest and best use analysis tests whether a use is legally permissible, physically possible, financially feasible and maximally productive. A use must pass each test, so the more restrictive of the legal and physical limits sets the practical density, and financial feasibility still requires separate analysis.
Real-World Application
A developer assumes zoning allows 40 homes on a 10-acre tract, but soils and drainage engineering support only 30. The appraiser's highest and best use analysis uses the 30-unit physical capacity and then tests whether that project is financially feasible.
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