(A) When a nonconforming use is discontinued for a consecutive period of 180 days, or discontinued for any period of time without a present intention to reinstate the nonconforming use, the property involved may thereafter be used only for conforming purposes, except as provided in division (B) below.
(B) The Board of Adjustment may issue a special use permit to allow a nonconforming use that has been discontinued for more than 180 consecutive days to be reinstated if it finds that the nonconforming use has been discontinued for less than two years, and the discontinuance resulted from factors that, for all practical purposes, were beyond the control of the person maintaining the nonconforming use.
(C) If the principal activity on property where a nonconforming situation other than a nonconforming use exists is discontinued for a consecutive period of 180 days, or discontinued for any period of time without a present intention of resuming that activity, then that property may thereafter be used only in conformity with all of the regulations applicable to the district in which the property is located, unless the Board of Adjustment issues a special use permit to allow the property to be used (for a conforming purpose) without correcting the nonconforming situation. The Board shall issue the permit if it finds that the nonconforming situation cannot be corrected without undue hardship or expense, and the nonconforming situation is of a minor nature that does not adversely affect the surrounding property or the general public to any significant extent.
(D) For purposes of determining whether a right to continue a nonconforming situation is lost pursuant to this section, all of the buildings, activities, and operations maintained on a lot are generally to be considered as a whole. For example, the failure to rent one apartment in a nonconforming apartment building or one space in a nonconforming mobile home park for 180 days shall not result in a loss of the right to rent that apartment or space thereafter so long as the apartment building or mobile home park as a whole is continuously maintained. But if a nonconforming use is maintained in conjunction with a conforming use, discontinuance of a nonconforming use for the required period shall terminate the right to maintain it thereafter. And so, if a mobile home is used as a nonconforming use on a residential lot where a conforming residential structure also is located, removal of that mobile home for 180 days terminates the right to replace it.
(E) When a structure or operation made nonconforming by this chapter is vacant or discontinued at the effective date of this chapter, the 180-day period for purposes of this section begins to run at the effective date of this chapter.
(Ord. passed 7-9-1985; Ord. passed 5-10-1990; Ord. passed 3-9-1999; Ord. passed 8-10-1999; Ord. passed 3-14-2000; Ord. passed 5-9-2000; Ord. passed 9-9-2003; Ord. passed 9-13-2005; Ord. passed 9-12-2006; Ord. passed 6-29-2021) Penalty, see § 154.999