§ 15.40.044. Definitions.

A.

Generally. Unless otherwise expressly stated the following terms shall, for the purpose of this chapter, have the meanings indicated in this article.

B.

Interchangeability. Words used in the present tense include the future; words in the masculine gender include the feminine and neuter; the singular number includes the plural and the plural includes the singular.

C.

Terms Defined in the Building Code. Where terms are not defined in this chapter and are defined in the building code, they shall have the same meanings ascribed to them as in the building code.

D.

Terms Not Defined. Where terms are not defined under the provisions of this chapter or under the provisions of the building code, they shall have ascribed to them their ordinarily accepted meanings or such as the context herein may imply.

E.

Applied Meanings and Terms. For the purpose of this chapter, whenever the words "dwelling," "dwelling unit," "rooming unit," or "premises" are used in this chapter, they shall be construed as though they were followed by the words "or any part thereof."

F.

Definitions.

1.

"Approved" means in accordance with this chapter.

2.

"Basement" means a portion (story or level) of a building or structure partly underground but having less than one-half of its clear floor-to-ceiling height below the average grade of the adjoining ground.

3.

"Building code" means the building code of the village as incorporated as a part of the municipal code.

4.

"Director of village inspections" means the official designated by the municipality to enforce building, zoning, or similar laws and this chapter, or his duly authorized representative.

5.

"Cellar" means a portion of any living unit structure located partly or completely below grade but having more than half of its clear floor-to-ceiling height below the average grade of the adjoining ground.

6.

"Dwelling" means any building which is wholly or partly used or intended to be used for living or sleeping by human occupants; provided, that temporary housing as hereinafter defined shall not be regarded as a dwelling:

a.

"One-family dwelling" means a building containing one dwelling unit which lodges one family as hereinafter defined.

b.

"Two-family dwelling" means a building containing two dwelling units with not more than two families as hereinafter defined, but not more than twenty individuals.

c.

"Multi-family dwelling" means a building or portion thereof containing more than two dwelling units and not classified as a one-or-two-family dwelling.

d.

"Boarding house/tourist house" means a building arranged or used for the lodging with or without meals, for compensation, of more than five but not more than twenty individuals.

e.

"Lodging house" means any building or portion thereof containing not more than five guests where rent is paid in money, goods, labor or otherwise. A lodging house shall comply with all the requirements for dwellings.

f.

"Dormitory" means a space in a building where group sleeping accommodations are provided for persons who are not members of the same family group, in one room or in a series of closely associated rooms.

g.

"Hotel" or "motel" means any building containing six or more guest rooms intended or designed to be used, or which are used, rented or hired out to be occupied, or which are occupied for sleeping purposes by guests.

7.

"Dwelling unit" means any room or group of rooms located within a structure and forming a single habitable unit with facilities which are used or intended to be used for living, sleeping, cooking, eating and sanitation.

8.

"Electrical code" means the 1975 National Electrical Code as adopted in the building code.

9.

"Exterior property areas" means the open space on the premises and on adjoining property under the control of owners or operators of such premises.

10.

"Extermination" means the control and elimination of insects, rodents or other pests by eliminating their harborage places by removing or making inaccessible materials that may serve as their food; by poisoning, spraying, fumigating, trapping; or by any other recognized and legal pest elimination methods approved by the director of village inspections.

11.

"Family" means an individual or two or more persons related by blood, marriage or law, or a group of not more than five persons (excluding servants), who need not be so related, living together in a dwelling unit.

12.

"Fire prevention code" means the fire prevention code of the village as incorporated as a part of the municipal code.

13.

"Garbage" means the animal and vegetable waste resulting from the handling, preparation, cooking and consumption of food. Also, all matter being discarded by the habitants of a given structure or environs.

14.

"Gross floor area" means the total area of all habitable space in a building or structure.

15.

"Habitable room" means an enclosed floor space used or to be used for living, sleeping, cooking, or eating purposes, excluding bathrooms, water closet compartments, laundries, furnace rooms, pantries, kitchenettes and utility rooms of less than fifty square feet of floor space, foyers or connecting corridors, stairways, closets, storage spaces and workshops, lobby and recreation areas in parts of structure below ground level or in attics.

16.

"Infestation" means the presence, within or around a dwelling, of any insects, rodents or other pests.

17.

"Noxious weeds" means any annual or perennial herbaceous plant of volunteer growth which is not cultivated or useful for human food or enjoyment and which, when in blossom, exhales an unpleasant odor or gives off pollen irritating to human tissue; and also any high bank vegetable growth that may conceal debris or filthy deposits or constitutes a fire hazard when dry.

18.

"Occupant" means any person including an owner or operator over one year of age, living and sleeping in a dwelling unit or rooming unit or having actual possession of said dwelling or rooming unit.

19.

"Openable area" means the part of a window or door which is available for unobstructed ventilation and which opens directly to the outdoors.

20.

"Operator" means any person having charge, care, management or control of any structure or part of it in which dwelling units or rooming units are let or offered for occupancy.

21.

"Owner" includes the owner, his agents for the purpose of managing, controlling or collecting rents, any other person managing or controlling a building or premises, any person entitled to the control or direction of the management or disposition of a building or premises.

22.

"Person" means an individual, firm, corporation, association, or partnership.

23.

"Plumbing" means water-heating facilities, water pipes, garbage disposal units, waste pipes, water closets, sinks, installed dishwashers, lavatories, bathtubs, shower baths, installed clothes washing machines, catch basins, drains, vents and other similar supplied fixtures, together with all connections to water or sewer lines.

24.

"Plumbing code" means the plumbing code of the village, being the plumbing code of the state.

25.

"Premises" means a lot, plat or parcel of land including the buildings or structures thereon.

26.

"Rooming house" means any residence, building, or any part thereof, containing one or more rooming units, in which space is let by the owner or operator to more than five persons who are not members of the family.

27.

"Rooming unit" means any room or groups of rooms forming a single habitable unit used or intended to be used for living and sleeping, but not for cooking or eating purposes.

28.

"Rubbish" means any combustible and noncombustible waste material, except garbage; and the term shall include the residue from the burning of wood, coal, coke and other combustible material, paper, rags, cartons, boxes, wood, excelsior, rubbish, leather, tree branches, yard trimmings, tin cans, metals, mineral matter, glass crockery and dust.

29.

"Structure" means that which is built or constructed.

30.

"Supplied" means paid for, furnished or provided by or under the control of the owner or operator.

31.

"Temporary housing" means any tent, trailer, recreational vehicle or other structure used for human habitations which is designated to be transportable and which is not attached to the ground, to another structure or to any utilities system on the same premises for more than fifteen consecutive days.

32.

"Ventilation" means the process of supplying and removing air by natural or mechanical means to or from any space. In the context of this definition:

a.

"Mechanical" means ventilation by power-driven vehicles; and

b.

"Natural" means ventilation by opening to outer air through windows, skylights, doors, louvers, or stacks without wind driven devices.

33.

Workmanlike. Whenever the words "workmanlike state of maintenance and repair" are used in this chapter, they shall mean that such maintenance and repair shall be made in a reasonably skillful manner.

34.

"Yard" means an open, unoccupied space on the same lot with a building extending along the entire length of a street, or rear, or interior lot line.

(Ord. 1977-14 § 2-1, 1977)