Attorney Susan Connelly explains the basic law of nonconforming uses and structures. Nonconforming uses and structures have been with us every since zoning first emerged in the 1920s. The root of the problem is that nonconformities reduce the effectiveness of what a community is trying to accomplish through its comprehensive plan, as implemented by its local zoning regulations. The continued existence of nonconforming uses, for example, undermines what a community is seeking to achieve when it establishes specific allowable uses for a zoning district.
Nonconformities come in all shapes and sizes.