The regulations for the zoning districts as set forth in this Chapter are made in accordance with a Comprehensive Plan for the purpose of setting minimum standards to promote the public health, safety, morals, convenience, order, prosperity, and general welfare of the community. They are designed to lessen congestion in the streets; to secure safety from fire, panic, and other dangers; to provide adequate light and air; to prevent the overcrowding of land; to avoid undue concentration of population; and to facilitate the adequate provision of transportation, water, sewerage, schools, parks and other public requirements. They are made with responsible consideration, among other things, as to the character of each district and its peculiar suitability for particular uses and with a view of conserving the value of buildings and encouraging the most appropriate use of land throughout the Municipality.

The provisions of this ordinance shall apply within the area of planning jurisdiction as defined by the official zoning map of Dakota City, Nebraska, as the same may be amended by subsequent annexation.

In interpreting and applying these regulations, they shall be held to be minimum requirements for the promotion of the public safety, health, convenience, comfort, morals, prosperity and general welfare.

Whenever there is a discrepancy between minimum standards or dimensions noted herein and those contained in the Subdivision Regulations Chapter, Building Regulations Chapter, or other official regulations or ordinances, the most restrictive shall apply.

After October 14, 1967, land or structures or the uses of land or structures that would be prohibited under the regulations for the district in which they are located, but are otherwise lawful, shall be considered as nonconforming. It is the intent of this Chapter to permit these nonconforming uses to continue, provided they conform to the following provisions:

1.

No existing structure devoted to a use not permitted by this Chapter in the district in which it is located shall be enlarged, extended, constructed, reconstructed, moved, or structurally altered except in changing the use of the structure to a use permitted in the district in which it is located.

2.

If no structural alterations are made, any nonconforming use of a structure, or structure and premises, may as an exception be changed to another nonconforming use, provided that the City Council either by general rule, or by making findings in the specific case, finds that the proposed use is equally appropriate or more appropriate to the district than the existing nonconforming use. In permitting such change, the City Council may require appropriate conditions and safeguards in accord with the provisions of this ordinance.

3.

When a nonconforming use of a structure, or structure and premises in combination is, in fact, discontinued or abandoned, the structure, or structure and premises in combination, shall not thereafter be used except in conformance with the regulations of the district in which it is located.

4.

Whenever a use district shall be hereafter changed, any then existing nonconforming use in such changed district may be continued or changed to a use permitted in that district, provided all other regulations governing the new use are complied with.

In any zoning district in which single-family structures are permitted, a single-family dwelling and customary accessory buildings may be erected on any single lot of record at the effective date of adoption or amendment of this Ordinance, notwithstanding limitations imposed by other provisions of this Ordinance. Such lot must be in separate ownership and not of continuous frontage with other lots in the same ownership. This provision shall apply even though such lot fails to meet the requirements for area or width, or both, that are generally applicable in the district, provided that yard dimension area requirements other than these applying to area or width, or both, of the lot, shall conform to the zoning regulations for the district in which such lot is located. Variance of yard requirements shall be obtained only through action of the County Board of Zoning Adjustment.

If two or more lots or combinations of lots and portions of lots with continuous frontage in single ownership are of record at the time of passage or amendment of this Ordinance, and if all or part of the lots do not meet the requirements established for lot width and area, the land involved shall be considered to be an undivided parcel for the purposes of this Ordinance and no portion of said parcel shall be used or sold in a manner which diminishes compliance with lot width and area requirements established by this Ordinance, nor shall any division of any parcel be made which creates a lot with width or area below the requirements stated in this Ordinance.

On any nonconforming use, work may be done in any period of 12 consecutive months on ordinary repairs, or on repair or replacement of non-bearing walls, fixtures, wiring, or plumbing, to an extent not exceeding 25 percent of the current replacement cost of the nonconforming structure or nonconforming portion of the structure as the case may be, provided that the cubic content existing when it became nonconforming shall not be increased.

If a nonconforming structure or portion of a structure containing a nonconforming use becomes physically unsafe or unlawful due to lack of repairs and maintenance, and is declared by and duly authorized official to be unsafe or unlawful by reason of physical condition, it shall not thereafter be restored, repaired, or rebuilt except in conformity with the regulations of the district in which it is located.

Nothing in this Ordinance shall be deemed to prevent the strengthening or restoring to a safe condition of any building or part thereof declared to be unsafe by any official charged with protecting the public safety upon order of such official.