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A. Legal Nonconforming Uses. A legal nonconforming use of land and/or structures is a use that conformed to the applicable code requirements that were in effect at the time of the establishment of the use, but does not conform to the current regulations of the zoning district in which it is situated due to subsequent changes in code requirements. Nonconforming uses are regulated subject to the requirements of this section.

1. Expansion of Use. A legal nonconforming use shall not be enlarged, expanded, or extended to occupy a greater area of building or land than was occupied at the effective date of adoption or amendment of that portion of this code which rendered the use nonconforming. Expansion includes increasing the size of the structure in which the use occurs or significantly enlarging the scope, volume, area, or intensity of the use.

a. Alterations to or expansion of a legal nonconforming use that are required by law or a public agency in order to comply with public health or safety regulations are the only alterations or expansions allowed to legal nonconforming uses.

b. Improvements, expansions, or additions to existing single-family dwellings including accessory buildings, considered nonconforming due to the zone in which they are located, are permissible when the improvement, expansion, or addition:

i. Does not change the existing use, as established, from the effective date of the nonconformance;

ii. Does not increase the land area devoted to the nonconforming use by more than twenty-five percent from the effective date of the nonconformity;

iii. Does not create additional dwelling units;

iv. Conforms to required occupancy, setback, lot coverage, landscaping, parking, and all other development standards within the respective zone;

v. Meets the applicable design standards prescribed in Chapter 22.42 MMC; and

vi. Provides public improvements, as deemed necessary for the project, such as sewer, water, drainage, pedestrian circulation, and vehicle circulation, in addition to other concurrency provisions.

c. Improvements, expansions, or additions to existing uses and buildings within the tourist commercial zone, considered nonconforming due to the zone in which they are located, are permissible when the improvement, expansion, or addition:

i. Does not change the existing use, as established, from the effective date of the nonconformance;

ii. Does not increase the land area devoted to the nonconforming use by more than fifty percent from the effective date of the nonconformity;

iii. Conforms to required occupancy, setback, lot coverage, landscaping, parking, and all other development standards within the respective zone;

iv. Meets the applicable design standards prescribed in Chapter 22.42 MMC; and

v. Provides public improvements, as deemed necessary for the project, such as sewer, water, drainage, pedestrian circulation, and vehicle circulation, in addition to other concurrency provisions.

2. Change of Use. Unless specifically permitted by this chapter, an existing structure devoted to a legal nonconforming use shall not be structurally altered, except for those alterations necessary to change the nonconforming use of the structure to a use permitted in the zoning district in which it is located.

a. If no structural alterations are made, any legal nonconforming use of a structure, or structure and premises, may be changed to another nonconforming use; provided, that the hearing body findings in the specific case shall find that the proposed use is more appropriate to the zoning district than the existing legal nonconforming use. In permitting such change, the hearing body may require appropriate conditions and safeguards in accord with the provisions of this title.

b. Any structure, or structure and land in combination, in or on which a legal nonconforming use is superseded by a permitted use shall thereafter conform to the regulations for the zone in which such structure is located, and the nonconforming use may not thereafter be resumed.

c. Relocation. No legal nonconforming use shall be moved, in whole or in part, to any other portion of the structure or lot other than that portion occupied by such use at the effective date of adoption or amendment of the ordinance codified in this chapter.

d. Restoration. In the event that a structure containing an existing legal nonconforming use is destroyed by accidental causes, the legal nonconforming status of any use contained in the structure shall not be lost, provided a complete building application to rebuild the structure and reestablish the legal nonconforming use is submitted within twelve months of the date of the loss.

e. Conditional Uses. An existing legal use does not become a conditional use because the zoning district in which it is located is changed to a zoning district that requires a conditional use permit for the specified use. The existing use may be enlarged without obtaining a conditional use permit.

f. Exemption – Residential/Group Care Facilities. The conversion of an existing residential structure to housing for people with functional disabilities, as defined by RCW 74.39A.009(23), shall not be deemed a change of use or an abandonment or discontinuity of the prior use of the structure, if such structure constituted a prior legal nonconforming use.

B. Illegal Nonconforming Uses. A use that was not legally established in accordance with the laws of the local governmental entity in which it was located at the date of its creation is an illegal nonconforming use and will not be allowed by the city to remain pursuant to MMC 22.40.090(C), Illegal Nonconformances. (Ord. 004/2021 § 2; Ord. 005/2019 § 10 (Exh. B))