The lawful use of land existing at the time this title or amendments thereto take effect, although such use does not conform to the provisions hereof, may be continued; but if such nonconforming use is discontinued for a period of one year, future use of said land shall be in conformity with the provisions of this title.

The lawful use or occupancy of a building existing at the time this title or amendments thereto take effect may be continued, although such use or occupancy does not conform with the provisions hereof; and such use may be extended throughout the building provided no structural alterations, except those required by law or ordinance or permitted under Section 9.184.010 of this title, are made therein. If no structural alterations are made, a nonconforming use of a building may be changed to another nonconforming use of the same or more restricted classification, "restriction" being defined as the numerical parking requirement per Chapter 9.168 for the intended use.

No existing building designed, arranged or intended for or devoted to a use or occupancy not permitted under the regulations of this title for the district in which such building or premises is located shall be enlarged, extended, reconstructed or structurally altered unless such use or occupancy is changed to a use and occupancy permitted under the regulations specified by this title for such district in which said building is located; provided, however, that work done in any period of 12 months on ordinary structural alterations or reconstruction of walls, fixtures or plumbing not exceeding 10% of the value of the building, as determined by the Director of Community Development shall be permitted provided that the cubic volume of the building, as it existed at the time this title or amendments thereto take effect, is not increased.

If at any time any building in existence or maintained at the time this title or amendments thereto take effect which does not conform to the regulations for the district in which it is located shall be destroyed by fire, flood, explosion, act of God or public enemy to the extent of more than 25% of the value thereof, as determined by the Director of Community Development then and without further action by the City Council the said building, use and occupancy thereof, and the land on which said building was located or maintained shall, from and after the date of such destruction, be subject to all the regulations specified by this title for the district in which such land and building are located.

In making the determination of the value of the building as provided herein, the Director of Community Development may utilize any appropriate data available, including but not limited to recent comparable sales information and County Assessor assessments to the extent that these, in his or her opinion, are reflective of true market value. The determination of the Director may be appealed to the City Council for final decisions using the procedure in Chapter 2.04.

In every case in which, under the provisions of this Code or any applicable statute in effect at the time this chapter or amendments thereto take effect, a license or a permit is required for the maintenance or occupancy of any structure or the establishing, maintaining and/or conducting of any business use, and any structure, occupancy or business use exists as a nonconforming use under the provisions of this title, then no use and occupancy certificate shall be issued for the continued maintenance or occupancy of said structure or use, unless satisfactory evidence of the possession or ability to secure such license or permit is presented to the Director of Community Development.