The lawful use of any dwelling, building, or structure and of any land or premises, as existing and lawful at the time of enacting a zoning ordinance or an amendment to the ordinance, may be continued, although such use does not conform with the provisions of such ordinance or amendment, but if any such nonconforming use is voluntarily discontinued for two years or more, or for a period of not less than six months but not more than two years that a municipal corporation otherwise provides by ordinance, any future use of such land shall be in conformity with sections 713.01 to 713.15 of the Revised Code. The legislative authority of a municipal corporation shall provide in any zoning ordinance for the completion, restoration, reconstruction, extension, or substitution of nonconforming uses upon such reasonable terms as are set forth in the zoning ordinance.
Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 713.15
Nonconforming uses
Applied in 5 court decisions — leading case 86 F. Supp. 2d 755 - North Olmsted Chamber of Commerce v. City of North Olmsted (2000)
Most recently applied in 341 F. Supp. 2d 825 - XXL of Ohio, Inc. v. City of Broadview Heights (October 2004)
Effective: March 5, 1987; Latest Legislation: House Bill 206 - 116th 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.