The applicant purchased a property to operate a salvage yard and sought a declaration that its use was a lawful non-conforming use under s. 34(9)(a) of the Planning Act.
The respondent municipality argued that the previous owner had discontinued the salvage yard use, thereby losing the non-conforming status.
The court found that the previous owner had continuously conducted salvage operations as part of its business, maintaining the legal non-conforming use.
Furthermore, the court held that the applicant's more intensive salvage operation did not constitute a wholly different use that would extinguish the non-conforming status.
The application for a declaration was granted.
