Meriden City Zoning Code
ARTICLE IX
Nonconforming Uses, Buildings and Structures
§ 213-60 Existing nonconforming uses, buildings and structures.
A.
Continuance. Any nonconforming use of land, buildings or structures lawfully existing at the effective date of this chapter may be continued, and any building so existing which was designed, arranged, intended for or is devoted to a nonconforming use may be structurally altered and the nonconforming use therein continued, subject to the conditions set forth below. Similarly, whenever a district shall be changed hereafter, the provisions of this chapter with regard to any building or uses lawfully existing at the time of the passage of this chapter shall apply, subject to the conditions set forth below, to any building or use lawfully existing in such changed district at the time of the passage of such amendment.
B.
Enlargement.
(1)
Nonconforming uses. No nonconforming use of land shall be enlarged, extended or altered and no building or other structure or part thereof devoted to a nonconforming use, including two-family, three-family, and multifamily residential uses in districts and lots that only allow single-family homes, shall be enlarged, extended, reconstructed or structurally altered, except where the result of such changes is to reduce or eliminate the nonconformity. No nonconforming use of a building or other structure shall be extended to occupy land outside such building or other structure or space in another building or other structure. The Zoning Board of Appeals may grant a special exception to allow limited expansion of nonconforming industrial uses and industrial uses allowed by variances or special exceptions of up to 25%, if the Zoning Board of Appeals finds that:
[Amended 1-3-2012]
(a)
All other requirements (bulk, height, coverage, etc.) of the zone in which said use is located are met.
(b)
Extraordinary measures are taken to screen and further protect the neighborhood.
(c)
The twenty-five-percent expansion is limited to the size of the structure or the area of the lot devoted to said nonconforming use. In a commercial zone, forty-percent lot coverage shall be allowed for nonconforming industrial use(s).
(d)
The 25% is based upon the size of the building or amount of land devoted to the nonconforming use at the time of the adoption of this chapter.
(2)
Nonconforming buildings. No building which does not conform to the requirements of this regulation regarding building height limit, area and parking facilities shall be enlarged in excess of a total of 10% beyond that which exists at the time of the adoption of this chapter, unless such enlarged portion conforms to the regulations regarding width of lot, percentage of lot coverage and required yards applying to the district in which it is located and unless a special exception permit for said enlargement is approved by the Zoning Board of Appeals.
C.
Movement. No nonconforming use of land shall be moved to another part of the lot on which it is located, and no nonconforming use of a building or structure shall be moved to any part of the building or structure not manifestly arranged and designed for such use at the time the use became nonconforming. No building or structure containing a nonconforming use shall be moved, unless the result of any such moving is to end the nonconforming use.
D.
Reconstruction. No nonconforming buildings demolished and discontinued pursuant to Connecticut General Statues (CGS) Chapter 124 § 8-2, as amended, shall be thereafter reconstructed.
[Amended 9-30-2019]
§ 213-61 Change in use.
A.
A nonconforming use may be changed to another nonconforming use, subject to approval of a special exception permit by the Zoning Board of Appeals and the following conditions:
B.
If any building in or on which any nonconforming use is conducted or maintained is hereafter removed, the subsequent use of the land on which such building was located and the subsequent location and use of any building thereon shall be in conformity to the regulations specified by this chapter for the district in which such land is located.
C.
No nonconforming use shall, if once changed into a conforming use, be changed back again into a nonconforming use.
§ 213-62 Discontinuance.
A.
No nonconforming use which has been discontinued pursuant to CGS Chapter 124 § 8-2, as amended, shall be thereafter resumed.
[Amended 9-30-2019]
B.
Ownership. Nothing in this chapter shall be deemed to require discontinuance of a nonconformity because of mere change of title or possession of property, except as otherwise provided herein.
§ 213-63 Maintenance and repair of nonconforming buildings.
Nothing in this chapter shall be deemed to prevent normal maintenance and repair or structural alteration in nonconforming buildings, provided that such action does not increase the degree of or create any new nonconformance with regard to the regulations pertaining to such buildings. Further, nothing in this section shall be deemed to prevent the carrying out, upon issuance of a building permit, of major structural alterations or demolition in the interest of public safety.