All legally established nonconformities as of the date of this chapter may continue, but they will be managed according to applicable state statutes and other regulations of the city for the subjects of alterations and additions, repair after damage, discontinuance of use and intensification of use; except that the following standards will also apply in the Shoreland Overlay District.
(1) Construction on nonconforming lots of record.
(a) Lots of record in the office of the county recorder prior to the date of enactment of this chapter which do not meet the requirements of § 1102.07(1) may be allowed as building sites without variances from lot size requirements, provided:
1. This use is permitted in the underlying zoning district;
2. The lot is and has been in separate ownership from abutting lands at all times since it became substandard;
3. The lot was created compliant with official controls in effect at the time;
4. All other dimensional requirements are complied with insofar as practical; and
5. Sewage treatment and setback requirements of this chapter are met.
(b) A variance from setback requirements must be obtained before any use or building permit is issued for a lot. In evaluating the variance, the City Council shall consider sewage treatment and water supply capabilities or constraints of the lot and shall deny the variance if adequate facilities cannot be provided.
(c) If, in a group of two or more contiguous lots under the same ownership, any individual lot does not meet the requirements of § 1102.07(1), the lot must not be considered as a separate parcel of land for the purposes of sale or development. The lot must be combined with the one or more contiguous lots so they equal one or more parcels of land, each meeting the requirements of § 1102.07 of this chapter as much as possible.
(2) Additions/expansions to nonconforming structures.
(a) All additions or expansions to the outside dimensions of an existing nonconforming structure must meet the setback, height and other requirements of this chapter. Any deviation from these requirements must be authorized by a variance pursuant to § 1102.04(3).
(b) Deck additions may be allowed without a variance to a structure not meeting the required setback from the ordinary high water level if all of the following criteria and standards are met:
1. The structure existed on the date the structure setbacks were established;
2. A thorough evaluation of the property and structure reveals no reasonable location for a deck meeting or exceeding the existing ordinary high water level setback of the structure;
3. The deck encroachment toward the ordinary high water level does not exceed 15% of the existing setback of the structure from the ordinary high water level or does not encroach closer than 30 feet, whichever is more restrictive; and
4. The deck is constructed primarily of wood and is not roofed or screened.
(3) Nonconforming sewage treatment systems.
(a) A sewage treatment system not meeting the requirements of § 1102.11 of this chapter must be upgraded, at a minimum, at any time a permit or variance of any type is required for any improvement on, or use of, the property. For the purposes of this provision, a sewage treatment system shall not be considered nonconforming if the only deficiency is the sewage treatment system's improper setback from the ordinary high water level.
(b) The governing body of the city has by formal resolution notified the commissioner of its program to identify nonconforming sewage treatment systems. The city will require upgrading or replacement of any nonconforming system identified by this program within a reasonable period of time which will not exceed two years. Sewage systems installed according to all applicable local shoreland management standards adopted under M.S. § 103F.211, as it may be amended from time to time, in effect at the time of installation may be considered as conforming unless they are determined to be failing, except that systems using cesspools, leaching pits, seepage pits or other deep disposal, method or systems with less soils treatment area separation above groundwater than required by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency's Chapter 7080 for design of on-site sewage treatment systems shall be considered nonconforming.
(Ord. 04-95, passed 4-10-1995)