The lawful use of any dwelling, building, or structure and of any land or premises, as existing and lawful at the time of enactment of a zoning resolution or amendment thereto, may be continued, although such use does not conform with such resolution or amendment, but if any such nonconforming use is voluntarily discontinued for two years or more, any future use of said land shall be in conformity with sections 519.02 to 519.25, inclusive, of the Revised Code. The board of township trustees shall provide in any zoning resolution for the completion, restoration, reconstruction, extension, or substitution of nonconforming uses upon such reasonable terms as are set forth in the zoning resolution.
Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 519.19
Nonconforming use of buildings and land not affected by zoning
Applied in 3 court decisions — leading case 88 Ohio App. 3d 443 - Beck v. Springfield Township Board of Zoning Appeals (1993)
Most recently applied in LaVon Moore v. Hiram Twp., Ohio (February 2021)
Effective: October 1, 1953; Latest Legislation: House Bill 1 - 100th General Assembly
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
Official source: Ohio Laws & Administrative Rules (Legislative Service Commission). Reproduced from public-domain Ohio statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.