§ 20-99. Definitions.

The following definitions shall apply in the interpretation and enforcement of this article:

Meaning of certain terms. Whenever the term "dwelling," "dwelling unit," "rooming units," "premises," or "structure" is used in this article, it shall be construed as though it was followed by the term "or any part thereof." Words used in the singular include the plural, and the plural the singular, the masculine gender includes the feminine and the feminine the masculine.

Accessory structure means a detached structure located on or partially on any premises, which is not used or intended to be used for living or sleeping by human occupants.

Appropriate authority means that person within the governmental structure of the corporate unit charged with the administration of the appropriate code.

Approved means approved by the local or state authority having such administrative authority.

Ashes means the residue from the burning of combustible materials.

Attic means any story situated wholly or partly within the roof and so designed, arranged or built as to be used for business, storage or habitation.

Basement means the lowest story of the building, below the main floor and wholly or partially lower than the surface of the ground.

Building means a fixed construction with walls, foundation and roof, such as a house, factory, garage, etc.

Cellar means a room or group of rooms totally below the ground level and usually under a building.

Central heating system means a single system supplying heat to one (1) or more dwelling units or more than one (1) rooming unit.

Chimney means a vertical masonry shaft of reinforced concrete or other approved noncombustible, heat-resisting material enclosing one (1) or more flues, for the purpose of removing products of combustion from solid, liquid or gas fuel.

Dilapidated means no longer adequate for the purpose or use for which it was originally intended.

Director of Health means the Director of Health of the City of Danbury, or his duly authorized personnel.

Dormitory means a building or group of rooms in a building used for institutional living and sleeping purposes by four (4) or more persons.

Dwelling means any enclosed space which is wholly or partly used or intended to be used for living and sleeping by human occupants, provided that single-family owner-occupied buildings as well as temporary housing as defined in this section shall not be regarded as a dwelling.

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

Egress means an arrangement of exit facilities to ensure a safe means of exit from a building.

Extermination means the control and elimination of insects, rodents or other pests by:

(1)

Eliminating their harborage places;

(2)

Removing or making inaccessible materials that may serve as their food;

(3)

Poisoning, spraying, fumigating, trapping, or by any other recognized and legal pest elimination methods approved by the local or state authority having such administrative authority.

Family means any number of individuals related by blood, marriage or adoption, or by custodial arrangement approved by the Health and Human Services Department of the City of Danbury, the Children and Family Services Department of the State of Connecticut or a court of competent jurisdiction; provided, however, that a group of not more than three (3) persons keeping house together but not necessarily related by blood, marriage, adoption or custodial agreement may be considered a family.

Flush water closet means a toilet bowl flushed with water under pressure with a water-sealed trap above the floor level. Such a toilet bowl shall have a smooth, easily cleanable surface.

Garbage means the animal and vegetable waste resulting from the handling, preparation, cooking, serving, and nonconsumption of food.

Grade means the finished ground level adjacent to a required window.

Guest means any person who shares a dwelling unit in a nonpermanent status for not more than thirty (30) days.

Habitable room means a room or enclosed floor space intended to be used for living, sleeping, cooking or eating purposes, excluding bathroom, water closet compartments, laundries, pantries, foyers, or communicating corridors, closets, recreation rooms (but not including a living room), private workshops or hobby rooms, and storage spaces. A kitchenette not exceeding sixty (60) square feet in floor area may be considered to be part of a habitable room in a dwelling unit consisting of one (1) room and may be part of a habitable room other than a sleeping room in other dwelling units.

Heated water means water heated to a temperature of not less than one hundred twenty (120) degrees Fahrenheit.

Heating devices means all furnaces, unit heaters, domestic incinerators, cooking and heating stoves and ranges, and other similar devices.

Hotel means a commercial establishment offering lodging to transient guests, including, but not limited to, motels, boatels and apartment hotels.

Housing Inspector means a person appointed by the Mayor to carry out the instructions of the Director of Health in the enforcement of this Code and to make routine inspections of the housing within the City as shall be designated by the Director of Health.

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

Kitchen means any room containing any or all of the following equipment, or the area of a room within three (3) feet of such equipment: sink and/or other device for dishwashing, stove or other device for cooking, refrigerator or other device for cool storage of food, cabinets and/or shelves for storage of equipment and utensils, and counter or table for food preparation.

Kitchenette means a small kitchen or alcove containing cooking facilities.

Multiple dwelling means any dwelling containing more than two (2) dwelling units.

Nonresident means one who is not a dweller in the City of Danbury.

Occupant means any person over one (1) year of age living, sleeping, cooking, or eating in, or having actual possession of, a dwelling unit or rooming unit.

Operator means any person who has charge, care, control, or management of a building, or part thereof, in which dwelling units or rooming units are let.

Owner means any person who, alone or jointly or severally with others shall have:

(1)

Legal title to any dwelling or dwelling unit, with or without accompanying actual possession thereof; or

(2)

Charge, care, or control of any dwelling or dwelling unit, as the owner or agent of the owner, or an executor, administrator, trustee, or guardian of the estate of the owner.

Any such person thus representing the actual owner shall be bound to comply with the provisions of this article and/or rules and regulations adopted pursuant thereto to the same extent as if he were the owner.

Permissible occupancy means the maximum number of persons permitted to reside in a dwelling unit or rooming unit.

Plumbing means and includes all of the following supplied facilities and equipment: gas pipes, gas burning equipment, water pipes, garbage disposal units, waste pipes, water closets, sinks, installed dishwashers, lavatories, bathtubs, shower baths, installed clothes-washing machines, catchbasins, drains, vents, and any similar supplied fixtures, together with all connections to water, sewer, or gas lines.

Premises means a plotted lot or part thereof or unplotted lot or parcel of land or plot of land, either occupied or unoccupied by any dwelling or nondwelling structure, and includes any such building, accessory structure or other structure thereon.

Privacy means the existence of conditions which will permit an individual or individuals to carry out an activity commenced without interruption or interference, either by sight or sound, by unwanted individuals.

Properly connected means connected in accordance with all the applicable codes and ordinances of the City of Danbury as from time to time enforced; provided, however, that the application of this definition shall not require the alteration or replacement of any connection in good working order and not constituting a hazard to life or health.

Rat harborage means any conditions or place where rats can live, nest or seek shelter.

Ratproofing means a form of construction which will prevent the ingress or egress of rats to or from a given space or building, or from gaining access to food, water, or harborage. It consists of the closing and keeping closed of every opening in foundations, basements, cellars, exterior and interior walls, ground or first floors, roofs, sidewalk gratings, sidewalk openings, and other places that may be reached and entered by rats by climbing, burrowing or other methods, by the use of materials impervious to rat gnawing and other methods approved by the Director of Health.

Refuse means all putrescible and nonputrescible solids (except body wastes), including garbage, rubbish, ashes, and dead animals.

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

Roominghouse means any dwelling or part of any dwelling containing one (1) or more rooming units, in which space is let by the owner or operator to more than four (4) persons who are not husband or wife, son or daughter, mother or father, or sister or brother of the owner or operator.

Rubbish means nonputrescible solid wastes (excluding ashes) consisting of either:

(1)

Combustible wastes such as paper, cardboard, plastic containers, yard clippings, and wood; or

(2)

Noncombustible wastes such as tin cans, glass and crockery.

Safety means the condition of being free from danger and hazards which may cause disease or accidents.

Space heater means a self-contained, heating appliance of either the circulating type or the radiant type and intended primarily to heat only one (1) room.

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

Temporary housing means any tent, trailer, mobile home, or any other structure used for human shelter which is designed to be transportable and which is not attached to the ground, to another structure, or to any utility system on the same premises for more than thirty (30) consecutive days.

Tenement house means any house or building, or portion thereof, which is rented, leased, let or hired out to be occupied as the home or residence of three (3) or more families living independently of each other and doing or able to do their cooking upon the premises and having a common right in the halls, stairways or yards.

Toxic substance means any chemical product applied on the surface of or incorporated into any structural or decorative material which constitutes a potential hazard to human health at acute or chronic exposure levels.

(Code 1961, § 10-2; Ord. No. 241, 3-6-1979; Ord. No. 254, § 1, 3-4-1980; Ord. No. 465, 5-4-1993)