**Webmasters Note: The previous subsections, E. through O., have been added as per Ordinance No. 1-2008.
[Amended 12-3-1975 by Ord. No. 16-1975]
All parking areas and walkways thereto and appurtenant passageways and driveways serving commercial, public, office, industrial, apartment or other similar uses having common off-street parking and/or loading areas shall have appropriate lighting facilities as determined by the Planning Board, and building complexes requiring area lighting shall be illuminated adequately 1/2 hour after sunset to 1/2 hour before sunrise. The lighting plan in and around the parking areas shall provide for nonglare, color-corrected lights focused downward. The light intensity provided at ground level shall be a minimum of 0.3 footcandle anywhere in the area to be illuminated, shall average a minimum of 0.5 footcandle over the entire area and shall be provided by fixtures with a mounting height of not more than 25 feet or the height of the building, whichever is less, measured from the ground level to the center line of the light source, spaced a distance not to exceed five times the mounting height. Any other lighting, such as building and sidewalk illumination, driveways with no adjacent parking and ornamental lighting, shall be shown on the lighting plan in sufficient detail to allow determination of the effects to adjacent properties, traffic safety and overhead sky glow. The objective of these specifications is to minimize undesirable off-premises effects. No light shall shine directly into windows or onto streets and driveways in such a manner as to interfere with or distract driver vision. To achieve these requirements, the intensity of such light sources, the light shielding and similar characteristics shall be subject to site plan approval by the Planning Board.
Except as otherwise provided in this Article, the lawful use of land, buildings or structures existing at the date of the adoption of this chapter may be continued although such use does not conform to the regulations specified by this chapter for the zone in which such land, buildings or structures are located. However, no building or structure shall be enlarged, extended, constructed, reconstructed, substituted, relocated, erected, converted to another use or structurally altered except in conformity with the regulations of this chapter for the district in which such building or structure is located. Also, land on which a nonconforming use or structure is located shall not be reduced in size, nor shall any lot already nonconforming be made more nonconforming in any manner.
A. Abandonment or discontinuance. Any nonconforming use not in operation for a period of 12 consecutive months shall not be allowed to continue where there has not been a persistent effort to continue the use during that time period.
B. Conversion to permitted use. Any nonconforming structure or use which has been changed to a conforming structure or use shall not be changed back again into a nonconforming structure or use.
C. Restoration.
(1)Any nonconforming structure or use which has been condemned or destroyed by fire, explosion, flood, windstorm or other act of God shall be examined by the Township Construction Official, the owner or an architect or engineer selected by the owner and a third person agreed upon by the Township Construction Official and the owner, whose fee shall be agreed upon and shall be paid in equal portions by the township and the owner. If, in the opinion of a majority of the above three people, the damage is greater than 50%, the structure or use shall be considered completely destroyed and may be rebuilt only upon approval of a use variance as provided by state statutes. In the event of a damaged or condemned structure where the damage or value of restoration is less then 50% in the opinion of a majority of the above three people, the nonconforming structure or use may be rebuilt and used for the same nonconforming use, provided that it does not exceed the height, area and volume of the original structure and the reconstruction shall commence within one year from the date of the building was damaged or condemned and shall be carried on without interruption. [Amended 1-31-1977 by Ord. No. 1-1977]
(2)The total value of the structure shall be based on the current cost of replacing those portions destroyed or required to be rebuilt to their original status plus the current cost of replacing the remaining usable elements of the structure. The cost of replacing the portion that was damaged or requires rebuilding shall be computed as a percentage of the current value of the structure as outlined above.
D. Repairs, maintenance and permitted expansion. Such repairs and maintenance work as required to keep a structure in sound condition may be made to a nonconforming structure or a structure containing a nonconforming use. Moreover, any commercial or industrial use existing as a conforming use immediately prior to the date of adoption of this chapter and which has been made a nonconforming use by the provisions of this chapter may be physically expanded as a right to a maximum of 125% of the gross size of the facilities devoted to such use on the said date of adoption.
E. Sale. Any nonconforming use, structure or lot may change ownership and continue to function as the same nonconforming use, structure or lot, provided that the other provisions of this section are met.
F. Nonconforming lots.
(1)[Amended 8-2-1985 by Ord. No. 18-1985] Any existing lot on which a building or structure is located and which lot does not meet the minimum lot size or which structure violates any yard requirements may have additions to the principal building and/or construct an accessory building without an appeal to the Board of Adjustment, provided that the total permitted building coverage is not exceeded and/or the accessory building and/or any addition does not violate any other requirements of this chapter, such as but not limited to height, setback and parking. For lots of one acre or less, additions or accessory buildings may be constructed in accordance with the following schedule:
