(a) Application. A person who wishes to register a nonconforming use shall file an application on a form provided by the Office of Planning and Zoning, except that a nonconforming dwelling may not be registered.
(b) Posting. For a period of 14 days after filing an application to register a nonconforming use, the applicant shall post one or more signs on the property. Signs shall be furnished by the Office of Planning and Zoning and posted and maintained by the applicant.
(c) Rebuttable presumption. There is a rebuttable presumption that a use in existence continuously for a period of 10 years is a nonconforming use.
(d) Decision. After receipt of an application, the Office of Planning and Zoning shall determine whether the use may be registered as a nonconforming use and classify the use based on the zoning district in which the use is allowed. If the use is specified in more than one zoning district, the Office of Planning and Zoning shall classify the use based on what it considers to be the most appropriate district. The Office shall notify the applicant in writing of its determinations.
(e) Limitations.
(1) No enforcement action under Title 17 to abate a use of property in violation of this article shall be initiated 20 years or more after the date the use commenced, if:
(i) the use is operated by the owner of the property and has been in existence continuously since first commenced; and
(ii) the property on which the use is located has been owned by the same owner since the use commenced.
(2) A use to which subsection (e)(1) applies shall be registered and classified by the Office of Planning and Zoning as a "twenty-year registered use."
(3) A use to which subsection (e)(1) applies shall terminate when the use ceases operation for 12 consecutive months or when the scope of the use is so significantly reduced during the 12 month period as to change its nature or character, or upon a transfer of ownership from the owner described in subsection (e)(1)(ii), unless that transfer of ownership is to a child of the owner who continues to operate the use without cessation.
(Bill No. 4-05; Bill No. 38-14; Bill No. 7-15)