The provisions of this Section shall apply to all non-conforming uses, lands and structures. A non-conforming land use or structure is one which existed lawfully, whether by variance or otherwise, on the date this Chapter or any amendment thereto became effective and which fails to conform to one (1) or more of the applicable regulations of this Chapter or such amendment thereto, except with regard to minimum lot area, yard and setback requirements, which shall be deemed conforming.

Such non-conformities may be incompatible with and detrimental to permitted land uses and structures in the zoning districts in which they are situated; they inhibit present and future development of nearby properties; and they confer upon their owners and users a position of unfair advantage.

An existing non-conforming land use or structure shall not cause further departures from this Chapter. An existing non-conformity may be continued except as hereinafter limited in this Section. A non-conforming use may be changed to another use only in accord with the following:

The existence of any present non-conformity anywhere in the City shall not itself be considered grounds for the issuance of a variance for other property.

Existence Of Non-Conformities.

A non-conforming use of land shall not be enlarged, extended or altered and a structure or part thereof devoted to a non-conforming use shall not be enlarged, extended, constructed, reconstructed or structurally altered, except:

A non-conforming use of land shall not be moved to another part of a lot or outside the lot and a non-conforming use of a structure shall not be moved to any part of the structure not manifestly arranged and designed for such use at the time the use became non-conforming except that in the case of extraction of raw materials from the earth, extraction operations and moving of related structures may occur on any part of the tract owned or leased by the operator at the time of becoming a non-conforming use.

Where any change is proposed to be made to a use that is permitted in the district only by a conditional use permit, such change may be made only through a conditional use permit granted pursuant to the procedure delineated by Section 415.500 of this Chapter.

The number of dwelling units in a non-conforming residential structure shall not be increased over the number of dwelling units in the structure at the time of the structure becoming a non-conforming structure.

Nothing in this Chapter shall be deemed to prohibit the restoration of any structure and its use where such structure has been destroyed by any means out of the control of the owner to an extent less than sixty percent (60%) of its replacement value (excluding the value of the land, the cost of preparation of land and the value of any foundation adaptable to a conforming use) at the time of destruction or the one-time reconstruction of an existing accessory building destroyed by any means outside of the control of the owner up to one hundred percent (100%) of its replacement value, provided the restoration of such structure and its use in no way increases any former non-conformity and, provided further, that restoration of such structure is begun within six (6) months of such destruction and diligently prosecuted to completion within two (2) years following such destruction. Except for the one-time reconstruction of an existing accessory building destroyed by any means outside the control of the owner up to one hundred percent (100%) of its replacement value, whenever any structure has been destroyed by any means out of the control of the owner to an extent of more than sixty percent (60%) of its replacement value (excluding the value of the land, the cost of preparation of land and the value of any foundation adaptable to a conforming use) at the time of destruction, as determined by the Zoning Enforcement Officer or by any means within the control of the owner to any extent whatsoever, the structure shall not be restored except in full conformity with all regulations of the district in which such structure is situated. When a structure is determined to be substandard by the proper administrative official of the City of Wildwood under any applicable ordinance of the City and the cost of placing the structure in condition to satisfy the standards under such ordinance shall exceed sixty percent (60%) of the reconstruction cost of the entire structure, such non-conforming structure shall not be restored for the purpose of continuing a non-conforming use.

Any non-conforming building existing lawfully in the "FP" Floodplain District which is destroyed by any means, including flood, shall not be reconstructed if the cost is more than fifty percent (50%) of the market value of the structure before the damage occurred unless it is reconstructed in conformity with all provisions of this Chapter. This limitation does not include the cost of any alteration to comply with existing State or local health, sanitary, building or safety codes or regulations or the cost of any alteration of a structure listed on the National Register of Historic Places or a State Inventory of Historic Places.

Within five (5) years of the date of the adoption of this Chapter or the date of adoption of any applicable amendments to this Chapter, any use which is or becomes a non-conforming use shall be brought into conformance with the zoning performance standards established in Section 415.250, Zoning Performance Standard Regulations.

The non-conforming use of open land for junk yards, storage (other than stockpiling of sand, gravel and rock as an accessory operation to the extraction of raw material from the earth) and non-conforming structures containing two hundred (200) square feet of ground floor space or less shall be discontinued within five (5) years of the date of their becoming non-conforming uses by the adoption of this Chapter, amendments to this Chapter or previous zoning ordinances. Any use listed in this Subsection (C)(11) need not be discontinued in the event that the adoption of this Chapter or amendments to this Chapter changes the status of such use from that of a non-conforming use to that of a permitted use in the district in which it is located.

Any non-conforming use which has been abandoned shall not thereafter be re-established. Any structure or land or structure and land in combination, which was formerly devoted to a non-conforming use which has been abandoned, shall not again be devoted to any use other than those uses which are permitted in the district in which the structure or land or structure and land in combination is situated.

The term "abandonment," as used herein, shall mean the voluntary discontinuance of a use, when accompanied by an intent not to re-establish such use. Any one (1) of the following shall constitute prima facie evidence of intent to abandon.