All uses and activities shall fully comply with the following.

As a condition to the development or continuance of any building, process, installation, production or other use in any commercial or industrial zone, the applicant shall supply evidence, satisfactory to the Planning Board or to its designated representative, that the proposed use will conform fully with all of the applicable performance standards of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. As evidence of compliance, the Board may require certification of tests by appropriate government agencies or by recognized testing laboratories, any cost thereof to be borne by the applicant. The Planning Board may require that specific devices be installed and that operating procedures be followed if government agencies or testing laboratories determine that the use requires such in order to assure compliance with performance standards.

Except as otherwise provided in this section, the lawful use of land or buildings existing at the date of the adoption of this chapter may be continued, although such use or building does not conform to the regulations specified by this chapter for the zone in which such land or building is located.

A nonconforming use shall be adjudged as abandoned when there occurs a cessation of any such use or activity by an apparent act or failure to act on the part of the tenant or owner to reinstate such use within a period of one year from the date of cessation or discontinuance. Such use shall not thereafter be reinstated and the structure shall not be reoccupied except in conformance with this chapter.

If any nonconforming building shall be destroyed 50% or more by reason of windstorm, fire, explosion or other act of God or the public enemy, then such destruction shall be deemed complete destruction and the structure may not be rebuilt, restored or repaired except in conformity with the regulations of this chapter. Nothing in this chapter shall prevent the strengthening or restoring to a safe condition any wall, floor or roof which has been declared unsafe by the Construction Official.

No nonconforming use shall, if once changed into a conforming use, be changed back into a nonconforming use.

A nonconforming building may be altered but not enlarged or extended during its life to an extent not exceeding, in the aggregate, 50% of the recorded true value as appraised in the records of the Tax Assessor of the building, unless the building is changed to a building conforming to the requirements of this chapter.

At any time within one year after the adoption of any amendment which renders a use or structure nonconforming, an owner or prospective purchaser, prospective mortgagee, or any other person interested in any land upon which a nonconforming use or structure exists may apply in writing to the Zoning Officer for the issuance of a certificate certifying that the use or structure existed before the adoption of the ordinance which rendered the use or structure nonconforming. The applicant shall have the burden of proof. The application for such certificate shall be in such form as the Zoning Officer shall prescribe, shall describe the lands and premises, shall state the exact nature of each nonconforming use when it commenced and whether it has continued without interruption to the effective date of this chapter, and shall be signed and sworn to by the owner. If satisfied that any nonconforming use was legally in existence prior to the effective date of this chapter and was continued to that date, the Zoning Officer shall issue his certificate that, on the effective date of this chapter, the lands and premises, to be particularly described in the certificate, were devoted to each nonconforming use set forth in the application and found to have legally existed, particularly describing the nature and extent thereof. In any proceeding in which existence or nonexistence of the nonconforming use on the effective date of this chapter is in issue, the certificate of the Zoning Officer issued thereunder shall be prima facie evidence of its existence.

The fee for a Certificate of Nonconforming Use shall be $100.