No owner, tenant or occupant shall use or permit the use of any structure, building or land, or part thereof, hereafter created, erected, changed, converted or enlarged, wholly or partly, until a zoning permit has been issued by the Zoning Officer. The zoning permit shall show that such building or premises, or part thereof, and the proposed use thereof, are in conformity with the provisions of this chapter or in conformity with the provisions of a variance granted according to law.

Any person desiring to change the use of his premises shall apply to the Zoning Officer for a zoning permit stating under oath such facts as required. A copy of the zoning permit shall be kept on file at all times upon the premises affected and shall be displayed upon request of any authorized official.

All zoning permits shall be issued in triplicate, and one copy shall be posted conspicuously on the premises affected whenever construction work is being performed thereon. No owner, contractor, workman or other persons shall perform any building operations of any kind unless the zoning permit covering such operation has been previously issued. Furthermore, no building operations of any kind shall be performed after notification of the revocation of the zoning permit.

A record shall be kept of all zoning permits issued, and the original applications therefor shall be kept on file in the same manner as applications for building permits. No owner, tenant or other person shall use or occupy any building or structure thereafter erected or altered, the use of which shall be changed after passage of this chapter, without first obtaining a zoning permit.

A zoning permit, once granted, shall continue in effect as long as there is no change of use of the premises.

The Zoning Officer shall act upon all such applications within 15 days after receipt of a fully filled-in application or shall notify the applicant in writing of his refusal to issue such permit and the reasons therefor.

Failure to notify the applicant in case of such refusal within 15 days shall entitle the applicant for a zoning permit to file an appeal to the Zoning Board of Adjustment as in the case of a denial.

The Zoning Officer may waive plans on minor alterations not affecting structural change.

Zoning permit fees shall be in accordance with § 236-98.

If it appears at any time to the Zoning Officer that the application or accompanying plans are in any material respect false or misleading or that the work is being done upon the premises differing materially from that called for in the application previously filed with him and may be in violation of any provision of this chapter, he may forthwith revoke the zoning permit.

Upon written request from the owner, tenant or occupant made within one year of the effective date of this chapter, the Zoning Officer, after inspection, shall issue a zoning permit for a nonconforming use legally in existence at the time this chapter takes effect, certifying the extent and kind of use and whether any such existing use conforms to the provisions of this chapter and, if not, specifying the nonconformity in detail. After the expiration of the one-year period, a zoning permit may only be issued for an existing nonconforming use by the Zoning Board of Adjustment after a hearing held on notice to all persons entitled thereto.