A.   Any lawfully established use of a building or land that does not conform to the use regulations for the district in which it is located shall be deemed to be a legal nonconforming use and may be continued, except as herein otherwise provided. (Ord. B-39, 1969)

   B.   Any legal nonconforming use of a building or structure may be continued, provided there are no physical changes other than necessary maintenance and repair. If no structural alterations are made, a nonconforming use of a building may be changed to another nonconforming use of the same classification or of a more restricted classification. Whenever a nonconforming use has been changed to a more restricted use or to a conforming use, such use shall not thereafter be changed to a less restricted use. (Ord. C-138, 11-3-1992)

   C.   Any building for which a permit has been lawfully granted may be completed in accordance with the approved plans, provided construction is started within ninety (90) days and prosecuted to completion within six (6) months. Such building shall thereafter be deemed a lawfully established building. (Ord. B-39, 1969)

   A.   Whenever any part of a building, structure or land occupied by a nonconforming use is changed to or replaced by a conforming use, such premises shall not thereafter be used or occupied by a nonconforming use even though the building may have been originally designed and constructed for the prior nonconforming use.

   B.   Whenever a nonconforming use of a building or structure or part thereof has been discontinued for a period of twelve (12) consecutive months, or whenever there is evident a clear intent on the part of the owner to abandon a nonconforming use, such use shall not, after being discontinued or abandoned, be reestablished, and the use of the premises thereafter shall be in conformity with the regulations of the district.

   C.   Where no enclosed building is involved, discontinuance of a nonconforming use for a period of six (6) months shall constitute abandonment, and shall not thereafter be used in a nonconforming manner. (Ord. B-39, 1969)

The period of time during which the following nonconforming uses of buildings, structures or land may continue or remain shall be limited from the effective date of this title or amendment thereto which causes the use to be nonconforming. Every such nonconforming use shall be completely removed from the premises at the expiration of the period of time specified below:

   A.   Any nonconforming use of a building or structure having an assessed valuation not in excess of five hundred dollars ($500.00) shall be removed after two (2) years.

   B.   All nonconforming signs, billboards and outdoor advertising structures shall be removed after ten (10) years.

   C.   Any nonconforming use of land where no enclosed building is involved, or where the only buildings employed are accessory or incidental to such use, or where such use is maintained in connection with a conforming building, shall be removed after a period of two (2) years. (Ord. B-39, 1969)

   D.   (Rep. by Ord. C-339, 3-20-2001)

   E.   Any use of land which was in violation of ordinance A-143, on file in the city clerk's office, shall not become a valid use unless it is a conforming use under this title, nor shall such continued use become a valid nonconforming use under this title. (Ord. B-39, 1969)

   A.   Normal maintenance of a building or other structure containing a nonconforming use is permitted, including necessary nonstructural repairs and incidental alterations which do not extend or intensify the nonconforming use.

   B.   No structure alteration shall be made in a building or other structure containing a nonconforming use, except in the following situations:

      1.   When the alteration is required by law.

      2.   When the alteration will actually result in elimination of the nonconforming use.

      3.   When a building in a residential district containing residential nonconforming uses may be altered in any way to improve livability, provided no structural alterations shall be made which would increase the number of dwelling units or the bulk of the building. (Ord. B-39, 1969)

If a building or other structure containing a nonconforming use is involuntarily damaged or destroyed by any means, the building may then be restored to its original condition and the occupancy or use of such building may be continued which existed at the time of such destruction.

Restoration or repair of the building or other structure shall be started within a period of six (6) months from the date of damage or destruction, and completed within twelve (12) months of the date of such damage. (Ord. B-117, 10-3-1972)

   A.   A building, nonconforming in use, may be enlarged or extended one time during the existence of said nonconforming use by no more than twenty five percent (25%) of the existing floor area. Such building will not need to become a conforming use. Applicant will be required to go through the special use application process as provided in chapter 22 of this title. However, a building may be enlarged or extended by more than twenty five percent (25%) only if the entire building is thereafter devoted to a conforming use. In both cases, the building must conform to all other regulations of the district in which it is located. (Ord. C-152, 2-2-1993)

   B.   No building partially occupied by a nonconforming use shall be altered in such a way as to permit the enlargement or expansion of the space occupied by such nonconforming use.

   C.   No nonconforming use may be enlarged or extended in such a way as to occupy any required usable open space, or any land beyond the boundaries of the zoning lot as it existed on the effective date of this title, or to displace any conforming use in the same building or on the same premises. (Ord. B-39, 1969)

   D.   A building or structure which is nonconforming with respect to yards or any other specific element of bulk may be altered or expanded, provided the degree of the nonconformity is not increased, and provided no other code requirement or bulk regulation, for the district in which it is located, is violated. (Ord. B-338, 1-6-1981)

   E.   No building or structure which is nonconforming with respect to yards or any other specific element of bulk can be expanded by more than thirty percent (30%) of its existing gross floor area whenever such expansion increases the actual amount of a structure's nonconformity and nonconforming area, nor can any alteration be effected that involves replacement of more than thirty percent (30%) of the structure's existing framework. An expansion or alteration in accordance with this section, involving no more than thirty percent (30%) of the existing floor area or structural framework, can occur only one time unless specifically permitted thereafter by special use. An expansion or alteration of more than thirty percent (30%) of existing floor area or structural framework replacement of more than thirty percent (30%) can also occur through issuance of a special use permit. (Ord. C-430, 11-15-2005)

   F.   In the event of involuntary destruction or substantial damage, the building or structure may be restored or reconstructed "as was" or may be expanded in accordance with subsection E of this section. Reconstruction or expansion must be completed within twelve (12) months of the occurrence of the destruction or substantial damage. (Ord. C-418, 5-3-2005)

   A.   Any nonconforming use may be made a special use by granting of a special use permit, as authorized in chapter 22 of this title.

   B.   Any nonconforming use of a building or structure which has been vacant for more than twelve (12) months and lost its nonconforming classification as required by subsection 10-5-2B of this chapter, may be made a special use by granting of a special use permit, as authorized in chapter 22 of this title, provided the following conditions are met:

      1.   The building or structure must be of such nature that conversion to an allowable use would be impossible, financially impractical (improvements to convert would cost in excess of 50 percent of the value of the structure), or nonconducive to the structure.

      2.   The proposed use is suitable for the subject structure and site.

      3.   The use proposed must be similar or more restrictive than previous uses of the property with evidence showing previous uses in legal operation.

      4.   The structure will not be structurally altered or enlarged in such a way as to enlarge the special use beyond the space previously used for nonconforming uses.

      5.   Any special use approved using this subsection B is approved for the use only. Any change in use is not allowed under the previous special use. (Ord. C-497, 12-21-2010)