(a) For the purpose of this Article, the following terms shall mean as follows:
(1) "City" means the City of Dunbar West Virginia.
(2) "Code" means any state or local code or ordinance adopted, enacted or in effect within the jurisdiction of the City relating to or concerning the fitness for habitation, construction, maintenance, operation, use or appearance of any premises or dwelling.
(3) "Code Official" means the official, designated by the appointment of the Mayor, to administer and enforce this Article, or such official's duly authorized representatives.
(4) "Dwelling" means any part of any structure, building, house or portion thereof, containing one or more Dwelling Units, or intended to serve itself as a Dwelling Unit, designed to be occupied for residential sleeping, living, cooking and sanitation purposes by one or more persons, which is leased or rented from the Owner or the Operator to any Tenant, whether by day, week, month, year or any other term. "Dwelling" includes common areas that are not rented or let to a tenant. The word "Dwelling" shall not include any of the exceptions contained in Section 1101.08 of this Article.
(5) "Dwelling Unit" means a single unit within a Dwelling, which is occupied or intended, arranged or designed to be occupied for residential sleeping, living, cooking, and sanitation purposes by one or more persons, which is rented or let from the Owner or the Operator to any Tenant, whether by day, week, month, year or any other term. The word "Dwelling" shall not include any of the exceptions contained in Section 1101.08 of this Article.
(6) "Effective Date" means July 1, 2012.
(7) "Hotel" means a business establishment under single management which provides sleeping accommodations for transients with or without meals, having an annual turnover of room occupancy exceeding three hundred percent (300%) in which the rooms are not directly accessible from an outdoor area.
(8) "Motel" means a business establishment under single management which provides sleeping accommodations for transients with or without meals, having an annual turnover of room occupancy exceeding three hundred percent (300%) in which the rooms are directly accessible from an outdoor area.
(9) "Natural Person" means an individual human being and not a firm, corporation, association, partnership, limited liability company, limited partnership, public entity or entity of any kind.
(10) "Nuisance" means any building, structure, Dwelling, Dwelling Unit, premise, yard, grounds, or property that:
A. Is in a dilapidated, unsafe, hazardous or unsanitary condition due to the number or type of Code violations;
B. Interferes with the use or enjoyment of adjacent property;
C. Injures adjacent property or poses a significant danger to or adversely affects the health, safety or welfare of the surrounding community.
(11) "On-campus residential facility" means a building owned or controlled by an educational institution and/or other institution of higher learning, or spaces within buildings owned or controlled by an educational institution and/or other institution of higher learning, where housing is provided exclusively for students.
(12) "Operator" means any Person who has legal and/or contractual charge, care or control of a Dwelling or Dwelling Unit, or Premises which is Let or offered for occupancy, regardless of whether that Person is the Owner.
(13) "Owner" means any Person or Persons having a legal or equitable interest in a Dwelling Unit, and/or the Premises upon which the Dwelling Unit is situated, whether recorded in the official records of the State, County or Municipality as holding title to the Premises or the Dwelling Unit, or otherwise having control of or paying the ad valorem taxes on, a Dwelling Unit or the real property upon which the Dwelling Unit is situated. The term Owner may also be read to include the duly authorized agents or representatives of the Owner including any Operator.
(14) "Person" means a Natural Person or a firm, trust, corporation, association, partnership, limited liability company, limited partnership, public entity, joint venture and/or any other kind of entity or enterprise, whether or not incorporated or certificated with any public body, of any kind or character.
(15) "Premises" means a lot, plot or parcel of real property upon which any Dwelling Unit is situated.
(16) "Rent" or "Let" means to permit possession, occupancy or habitation of a Dwelling Unit by one or more individuals who are not the Owner(s) of the Dwelling Unit, pursuant to a written or unwritten lease or other agreement, regardless of compensation paid by the occupant(s) for such lease and duration of time in which such lease is in effect.
(17) "Residential" means property or structures suited or intended for occupancy or habitation by human persons for periods of time longer than thirty days.
(18) "Residential Rental License" means a document issued by the City to the Owner of a Dwelling Unit, granting permission to Rent or Let the Dwelling Unit in the City.
(19) "Structure Unfit for Human Occupancy" means a structure that is unsafe in the judgment of the Code Official because of the degree to which the structure is in disrepair or is unsanitary, is infested with vermin, contains filth and contamination or lacks ventilation, illumination, sanitary necessities, heating facilities or other essential equipment reasonably required for human habitation; or a structure that fails to meet the requirements of relevant Codes; or a structure, the location of which, constitutes a hazard to the occupants of the structure or to the public.
(20) "Tenant'' means an occupant or habitant in a Dwelling Unit, other than the Owner, secured by an agreement between Owner or its representative, agent or Operator, and Tenant, regardless of whether the Owner receives any consideration for the occupancy and regardless of the duration of the occupancy.
(21) "Transient" means a Natural Person residing or stopping in the City for less than thirty (30) days at any one time.
(22) "Unsafe Equipment" means any boiler, heating equipment, elevator, moving stairway, electrical wiring or device, flammable liquid container, plumbing or other equipment within a structure, or on premises containing a Dwelling or Dwelling Unit or that is in such disrepair or condition that such equipment is a hazard to life, health, property or safety of the public or occupants of a Dwelling Unit.
(23) "Unsafe Structure" means one that is found to be dangerous to the life, health, property or safety of the public or to the occupants or habitants of the structure due to the failure to provide minimum safeguards to protect or warn occupants in the event of fire, or because such structure contains unsafe equipment or is so damaged, decayed, dilapidated or structurally unsafe or of such faulty construction or unstable foundation that partial or complete collapse is reasonably possible.
(b) Words used in the present tense include the future; the singular form of words includes the plural and vice versa; the word "shall" is always to be read to create an affirmative obligation.
(Ord. 669. Passed 5-7-12.)