§ 20-176. Special requirements for roominghouses, dormitories, hotels.

No person shall operate a roominghouse, dormitory, or hotel, or shall occupy or let to another for occupancy any unit in any roominghouse, dormitory, or hotel, which is not in compliance with the provisions of this article except the provisions of sections 20-140, 20-168, 20-170, 20-174(1) and 20-175. Any facility licensed by the State of Connecticut as a community residence, as defined in C.G.S. § 19a-507a, or as a private boarding home, group home or other residential facility as described in C.G.S. § 17a-277 or as a child care facility licensed by the department of children and family services which is intended to serve as a residential group home shall be exempt from the provisions of this section.

(1)

No owner or other person shall occupy or let to another person any rooming unit, dormitory unit or hotel unit unless it is clean and sanitary, and complies with all the applicable requirements of the City of Danbury, including the following:

a.

Every operating license shall be issued for a period of one (1) year from its date of issuance, unless sooner revoked, and may be renewed for successive periods of not to exceed one (1) year.

b.

The Director of Health is hereby authorized, upon application therefor, to issue new operating licenses, and renewals thereof, in the names of applicant owners of hotels and roominghouses. No such licenses shall be issued unless the hotel or roominghouse in connection with which the license is sought is found after inspection to meet the requirements of this article and of applicable rules and regulations pursuant thereto.

c.

No operating license shall be issued or renewed unless the applicant owner has first made application therefor, on an application form provided by the Director of Health. The Director of Health shall develop such forms and make them available to the public.

d.

No operating license shall be issued or renewed unless the applicant owner agrees in his application to such inspections pursuant to subsection (1) of this section and section 20-134(1) as the Director of Health may require to determine whether the hotel or roominghouse in connection with which such license is sought is in compliance with the provisions of this article and with applicable rules and regulations pursuant thereto.

e.

Subject to the approval of the City Council, the Director of Health may set a reasonable fee schedule and receive fees pursuant thereto which are to be paid prior to the issuance of a license as required by this section.

f.

No operating license shall be issued or renewed for a nonresident applicant unless, subject to the Director's approval, such applicant designates in writing the Director of Health his agent for the receipt of service of an order of abatement as specified in this article and for service of process pursuant to this article.

g.

No operating license shall be issued or renewed for a resident applicant unless such applicant has first designated an agent for the receipt of service of notice of violations of the provisions of this article and for service of process pursuant to this article, when said applicant is absent from the City for thirty (30) or more days. Such a designation shall be made in writing and shall accompany each application form. The applicant may designate any person who is a resident in the City his agent for this purpose or, subject to the Director's approval, may designate the Director of Health his agent for this purpose.

h.

No operating license shall be renewed unless an application therefor has been made within sixty (60) days prior to the expiration of the present operating license.

i.

Each license shall be displayed in a conspicuous place within the common ways of the hotel or roominghouse. No license shall be transferable to another person or to another hotel or roominghouse. Every person holding an operating license shall give notice in writing to the Director of Health within twenty-four (24) hours after having transferred or otherwise disposed of the legal control of any licensed hotel or roominghouse. Such notice shall include the name and address of the person or persons succeeding to the ownership or control of such hotel or roominghouse.

j.

Every owner or other person in charge of a licensed hotel or roominghouse shall keep, or cause to be kept, records of all requests for repair and complaints by tenants, which are related to the provisions of this article and to any applicable rules and regulations, and of all corrections made in response to such requests and complaints. Such records shall be made available by the owner or owner's agent to the Director of Health for inspection and copying upon demand. Such records shall be admissible in any administrative or judicial proceeding pursuant to the provisions of this article, as prima facie evidence of the violation or the correction of violation of this article or applicable rules and regulations pursuant thereto.

k.

Whenever, upon inspection of the licensed hotel or roominghouse, or of the records required to be kept by subsection (10) of this section, the Director of Health finds that conditions or practices exist which are in violation of the provisions of this article or of any applicable rules and regulations pursuant thereto, he shall serve the owner or owner's agent with an order of abatement in the manner hereinafter provided. Such order shall state that unless the violations cited are corrected in reasonable time, the operating license may be suspended.

l.

At the end of the time he has allowed for correction of the violation cited, the Director of Health shall reinspect the hotel or roominghouse, and, if he determines that such conditions have not been corrected, he may issue an order suspending the operating license.

m.

Any person whose operating license has been suspended shall be entitled, if the Director of Health so determines, to a formal hearing in the manner hereinafter provided by this article. If no request for a hearing reaches the Director of Health within two (2) days following receipt of the order for suspension, the license may be revoked, except that prior to revocation any person whose license has been suspended may request reinspection upon showing that the violations cited in the order have been corrected.

n.

If, upon reinspection, the Director of Health finds that the hotel or roominghouse in connection with which the order was issued is now in compliance with this article and with applicable rules and regulations pursuant thereto, he shall reinstate the license. A request for reinspection shall not exceed the suspension period, unless the Director of Health grants such request.

(2)

At least one (1) flush water closet, lavatory basin and bathtub or shower, properly connected to a water and sewer system approved by the Director of Health and in good working condition, shall be supplied for each six (6) persons or fraction thereof residing within a roominghouse or dormitory, including members of the operator's family wherever they share the use of the said facilities, provided that:

a.

In a roominghouse or dormitory, where rooms are let only to males, flush urinals may be substituted for not more than one-half (½) the required number of water closets.

b.

All such facilities shall be located within the dwelling so as to be reasonably accessible from a common hall or passageway to all persons sharing such facilities and shall be on the same floor as the rooming units, dormitory units or hotel rooms which they serve.

c.

Every lavatory basin and bathtub or shower shall be supplied with heated and unheated water under pressure at all times.

d.

No such facilities shall be located in a basement or cellar.

(3)

The following provisions shall apply in all roominghouses and hotels:

a.

Cooking in units is prohibited.

b.

Communal cooking and dining facilities in a roominghouse are prohibited, except as approved by the Director of Health in writing.

c.

Access doors to units shall have operating locks to ensure privacy.

(4)

Unless exempted by the Director of Health in writing, the operator of every roominghouse and hotel shall change supplied bed linen and towels therein at least once a week, and prior to the letting of any room to any occupant; and the operator shall be responsible for the maintenance of all supplied bedding in a clean and sanitary manner.

(5)

Every room in a roominghouse, dormitory, or hotel used for living or sleeping purposes shall comply with all requirements of this article pertaining to a habitable room. Every rooming unit occupied by one (1) person shall contain at least one hundred ten (110) square feet of floor space, and every rooming unit occupied by more than one (1) person shall contain at least ninety (90) square feet of floor space for each occupant thereof; every such room shall also contain at least four (4) square feet of floor-to-ceiling closet space per occupant thereof, or, if it is lacking in whole or in part, an amount of space equal in square footage to the deficiency shall be subtracted from the area of habitable room space used in determining permissible occupancy.

(6)

Every rooming, dormitory, or hotel unit shall have immediate access to two (2) or more safe, unobstructed means of egress, with minimum headroom of six (6) feet six (6) inches, leading to safe and open space at ground level, as required by the law of the State of Connecticut and the City of Danbury. Access to or egress from each rooming unit shall be provided without passing through any other rooming unit.

(7)

Railing or parapets not less than thirty-four (34) inches high shall be placed around porches, balconies and roofs more than thirty (30) inches above the ground level which are used by occupants. Stairways having more than three (3) steps shall be equipped with railing.

(8)

All front, side and rear yards shall be maintained in a clean and sanitary condition. The occupants shall be responsible for the maintenance of their yards. Should the occupant fail to maintain his yard, then the owner shall be responsible for the maintenance thereof. No rubbish, garbage, debris or other waste matter shall be allowed to accumulate in any yard.

(9)

The operator of every roominghouse, dormitory, or hotel shall be responsible for the sanitary maintenance of all walls, floors, and ceilings and for maintenance of a sanitary condition in every other part of the roominghouse, dormitory or hotel and shall further be responsible for the sanitary maintenance of the entire premises where the entire structure or building is leased or occupied by the operator.

(10)

Special requirements for emergency housing shelters. Emergency housing shelters, providing temporary housing to homeless persons, operated by a governmental unit or a nonprofit corporation shall be required to meet all provisions of this section, with the exception of subsections (2) and (5) of this section. In lieu of these subsections, the operator shall be required to meet the following requirements:

a.

At least one (1) flush water closet, lavatory basin and bathtub or shower, properly connected to a water and sewer system approved by the Director of Health and in good working condition, shall be supplied for each ten (10) persons or fraction thereof residing or expected to reside in the shelter. All such facilities shall be located within the shelter so as to be reasonably accessible from a common hall or passageway to all persons sharing such facilities, and shall be on the same floor as the area housing the occupants unless otherwise approved by the Director of Health.

b.

Every shelter shall contain at least fifty (50) square feet of floor space for each occupant thereof. No room or area containing less than ninety (90) square feet of floor area shall be used to house occupants.

(Code 1961, § 10-11; Ord. No. 241, 3-6-1979; Ord. No. 334, 5-6-1986; Ord. No. 392, 6-5-1990; Ord. No. 394, 6-5-1990)