17.12.090 Establishment, abandonment and miscellaneous requirements.
A. A property owner shall have the burden of establishing the legal existence of a non-complying structure or a nonconforming use.
B. The City or any party claiming a nonconforming use has been abandoned shall have the burden of establishing the abandonment. Abandonment shall be presumed to have occurred if:
1. A majority of the primary structure associated with the nonconforming use has been voluntarily demolished without prior written agreement with the City regarding an extension of the nonconforming use;
2. The nonconforming use has been discontinued for a minimum of one year;
3. The non-complying primary structure associated with the nonconforming use remains vacant for a period of one year; or
4. The nonconforming use has been replaced by a conforming use.
C. The property owner may rebut the presumption of abandonment under subsection B of this section and shall have the burden of establishing that any claimed abandonment under subsection B of this section has not in fact occurred. (Ord. 10-15, 2010)