O'MARA

Denied a writ of mandate by the superior court, directing the City Council of the City of Newark to set aside its finding that the nonconforming use of his property for residential purposes had been terminated by fire damage and to reconsider such finding in the light of the proper interpretation of the city’s zoning ordinance, petitioner appeals from the judgment.

Petitioner owns a duplex residential building in a district in the City of Newark which, under a comprehensive zoning ordinance adopted February 16, 1956, was zoned for retail business. Under the terms of the ordinance the existing use of the building as a two-family dwelling was permitted to continue as a nonconforming use.

However, with respect to the right to such continued use, section 2-835 of the ordinance provides: “If at any time any [such] building ... is destroyed by fire, explosion, Act of God, or act of the public enemy to the extent of more than 75 percent of the assessed value thereof according to the assessment thereof by the Assessor for the fiscal year during which destruction occurs, then . . . the building and the land on which the building was located or maintained shall from and after the date of…