As used in this article:
(a) Abandoned/disabled motor vehicle means a motor vehicle which is dismantled, in whole or in part, and/or which is mechanically unable to operate as the result of a mechanical defect or malfunction, a mechanical defect or malfunction includes, but is not limited to; deflated or missing tires; a vehicle resting on supports other than inflated tires; missing or damaged lights, windshield, or battery. The absence of minor and nonessential parts, such as antennas, or ornaments, hubcaps, etc., shall not cause a vehicle to be deemed dismantled and disabled. Any vehicle which is not capable of being licensed for operation on streets, alleys or highways shall be deemed to be disabled. Any vehicle that does not have a current license plate displayed shall be deemed to be abandoned.
(b) Absentee landlord means the owner of property that is leased, assigned or rented to another and who lives more than forty (40) miles from the Fremont city limits.
(c) Accessory structure means any structure which is used exclusively for an accessory use.
(d) Approved means approved by the manager of code compliance.
(e) Attractive nuisance means and consists of items in a structure or on a premises, which may prove detrimental to children, this includes, but is not limited to: any abandoned wells, shafts, basements or excavations, refrigerators or abandoned/disabled motor vehicles, open and vacant structures, structurally unsound fences, buildings or structures, lumber, trash, debris, hazardous trees, broken and/or hanging tree limbs, or hazardous vegetation.
(f) Basement means a portion of a structure or building which is partly or completely below ground.
(g) Bathroom means a room containing a lavatory, toilet, and a bathtub or shower.
(h) Bedroom means any room or space used or intended to be used for sleeping purposes.
(i) Building means any structure used or intended for use or occupancy by persons, materials, or animals.
(j) Building code means the building code, as adopted in Chapter 15 of the City of Fremont Codified Ordinances and in effect at the time of an alleged violation.
(k) Certificate of compliance means a certificate issued by the manager of code compliance for any rental dwelling or unit, which indicates the holder is in compliance with this code. A certificate of compliance will be issued after all required inspection and registration fees are paid and after the rental dwelling has been inspected and determined to be in complete compliance with this code. A certificate of compliance shall expire automatically at the end of two (2) years for rental dwellings that have three (3) or more units or rooming houses and have received any violations of this code during the most recent inspection of the premises. A certificate of compliance shall expire at the end of three (3) years for rental dwellings with one (1) or two (2) units and rental dwellings with three (3) or more units or rooming houses which have not received any violations of this code during the most recent inspection of the premises, except as otherwise provided in this code.
(l) Code compliance officer means a duly authorized representative of the manager of code compliance.
(m) Driveway means space on a lot, not to exceed twelve (12) feet in width, except where such space forms the apron to the entrance of a garage, specifically designated and used for the movement of motor vehicles, trailers and watercraft to or from the lot or to or from a public street.
(n) Dwelling means any house, building, structure, tent, shelter, trailer, mobile home, or vehicle, or portion thereof, except railroad cars on tracks or rights-of-ways, which is occupied in whole or in part as the home, residence or living or sleeping place for one (1) or more persons, either permanently or intermittently. A house trailer or other vehicle, when occupied or used as a dwelling, shall be subject to all the provisions of this code, except that a house trailer or other vehicle, duly licensed as a vehicle, may be occupied or used as a dwelling for reasonable periods of time without being subject to the provisions of this code for dwellings, where such occupation is otherwise lawful, and when it is located in a park or place designated or licensed for their use provided that such parking sites are equipped with adequate safety and sanitary facilities.
(o) Dwelling unit means a single unit providing complete, independent living facilities for one or more persons, including permanent provisions for living, sleeping, eating, cooking and sanitation.
(p) Efficiency dwelling unit means any room having cooking facilities and used for combined living, dining and sleeping purposes.
(q) Electrical code means the electrical code as adopted by this chapter and in effect at the time of an alleged violation.
(r) Emergency means a situation where a condition exists which is immediately dangerous to the life, limb, property or safety of the public or the occupants of a dwelling and/or premises.
(s) Exterior property means the open space on the premises and on adjoining property under the control of owners or operators of such premises.
(t) Extermination means the control and elimination of insects, rats or other pests by eliminating their harborage places; by removing or making inaccessible materials that serve as their food; by poison spraying, fumigating, trapping or by any other approved and safe pest elimination methods.
(u) Family means:
(1) An individual or two (2) or more persons related by blood, marriage or adoption, together with not more than two (2) other persons who are living together as a single housekeeping unit or dwelling unit with no additional roomers; or
(2) Not more than four (4) persons not related by blood, marriage or adoption in a C or multiple district, as defined in the zoning code, who are living together as a single housekeeping unit or dwelling unit with no additional roomers.
(v) Fence means any wall (except a retaining wall), screen, partition or similar structure existing on a yard or parcel of land, which encloses land; divides land into distinct portions; separates contiguous properties; obstructs the passage of light or air into adjacent land or obstructs the vision of motorists on or near public roads.
(w) Front yard means the space on a lot, extending the full width of the lot and situated between the street line and the front line of the main structure on the lot. However, where a lot is located at the intersection of two (2) or more streets, the front yard shall, in addition, include the space on the lot extending the full width or length of the lot and situated between the street line and the side line of the main structure on the lot.
(x) Garbage means the animal or vegetable waste resulting from the handling, preparation, cooking and consumption of food.
(y) Guardrail means a building component or a system of building components located at or near the open sides of elevated walking surfaces that minimizes the possibility of a fall from the walking surface to a lower level.
(z) Guest means any person hiring or allowed to occupy a room for living or sleeping purposes.
(aa) Guest room means any room used or intended to be used by a guest for sleeping purposes. Every one-hundred (100) square feet of superficial floor area in a dormitory shall be considered to be a guest room.
(bb) Habitable space means space in a structure for living, sleeping, eating or cooking. Bathrooms, toilet rooms, closets, halls, storage or utility spaces, and similar areas are not considered habitable spaces.
(cc) Hazard to health or safety means any unsafe structure or premises, as defined in Subsec. 10-39(a) of this code.
(dd) Health officer means the county health officer or any of his or her authorized representatives.
(ee) Hedge means a dense row of low branching trees, shrubs, vines or other plants which encloses land, divides land into distinct portions, separates contiguous properties, obstructs the passage of light and air into adjacent land or obstructs the vision of motorists on or near public roads.
(ff) Hot water means water at a temperature of one-hundred (100) degrees Fahrenheit or greater.
(gg) Imminent danger means a condition that could cause serious or life-threatening injury or death at any time.
(hh) Infestation means the presence, within or contiguous to, a structure or premises of insects, rats, vermin or other pests.
(ii) Labeled means those devices, equipment, appliances, or materials to which have been affixed a label, seal, symbol or other identifying mark of a nationally recognized testing laboratory, inspection agency or other organization concerned with product evaluation that maintains periodic inspection of the production of the above-labeled items and by whose label the manufacturer attests to compliance with applicable nationally recognized standards.
(jj) Landlord means the owner or manager of property that is leased, assigned or rented to another.
(kk) Let for occupancy or let means to permit, provide or offer possession or occupancy of a dwelling, dwelling unit, rooming unit, building, premise or structure by a person who is or is not the legal owner of record thereof, pursuant to a written or unwritten lease, agreement or license, or pursuant to a recorded or unrecorded agreement of contract for the sale of land.
(ll) Lodging house means any structure or portion thereof containing guest rooms where rent is paid in money, goods or services and having an occupant load not exceeding twenty (20) people.
(mm) Manager of code compliance means the manager of the office of code compliance of the department of planning and neighborhood development, including his or her duly authorized or designated representative, unless a contrary intent is clearly shown.
(nn) Mechanical code means the mechanical code, as adopted in this chapter and in effect at the time of an alleged violation.
(oo) Motor vehicle means any tracked or trackless, self propelled or mechanically operated vehicle, whether operable or not, including but not limited to automobiles, buses, trucks, vans, wreckers or road construction equipment or machinery.
(pp) Multiple dwelling means a dwelling containing three (3) or more dwelling units.
(qq) Occupancy means the purpose for which a building or portion thereof is used or occupied.
(rr) Occupant means any individual living or sleeping in a structure or having possession of a space within a structure.
(ss) Occupied space means the total area of all buildings or structures on any lot or parcel of ground projected on a horizontal plane, excluding permitted projections as allowed by this code.
(tt) One-family dwelling means a dwelling occupied by only one (1) family, and so designed and arranged as to provide cooking and kitchen accommodations for one (1) family only, also called a single-family dwelling.
(uu) Openable area means that part of a window, skylight or door which is available for unobstructed ventilation and/or egress and which opens directly to the outdoors.
(vv) Owner means any person, corporation, partnership, trust, limited liability company, or D.B.A. who has ownership of a parcel of property as evidenced by a deed, a land contract, or some other documentation that shows a legal interest in a parcel of property.
(ww) Owner occupied dwelling means a dwelling which a person both owns as a title holder or land contract purchaser and lives in as his or her home.
(xx) Person means an individual, corporation, partnership, limited liability company, or any other group or legal entity acting as a unit.
(yy) Placard means a notice posted on a structure, building or dwelling.
(zz) Plumbing code means the plumbing code, as adopted by this chapter and in effect at the time of an alleged violation.
(aaa) Premises means a lot, plot or parcel of land, including any building or structure thereon.
(bbb) Public nuisance means:
(1) Any public nuisance known at common law or in equity.
(2) Any attractive nuisance in a building or on a premises that may be detrimental to children. This includes, but is not limited to:
a. Any abandoned wells, shafts, basements or excavations;
b. Refrigerators or abandoned/disabled motor vehicles as defined in sec. 10-4;
c. Structurally unsound fences or structures; or
d. Lumber, trash, debris, hazardous trees, broken and/or hanging tree limbs or hazardous vegetation.
(3) Whatever is dangerous to human life or is detrimental to health.
(4) Overcrowding a room with occupants as defined in the building code.
(5) Insufficient ventilation or illumination as specified in this code.
(6) Inadequate or unsanitary sewage or plumbing facilities
(7) Uncleanliness, as determined by the county health officer or the manager of code compliance.
(8) Whatever renders air, food or drink unwholesome or detrimental to the health of human beings, as determined by the health officer.
(9) Hazardous or unsanitary premises.
(ccc) Recorded land contract, deed, mortgage, etc. means a deed, land contract, mortgage and/or any other document of title used to establish ownership of real property, which has been certified as recorded with the county register of deeds in which the property is located.
(ddd) Recreational vehicle means any self-propelled or mechanically operated vehicle, whether operable or not, including but not limited to motorcycles, snowmobiles, dune buggies, go-carts, all terrain vehicles, motor homes and campers.
(eee) Registered agent means the person registered with the office of code compliance who represents the owner of a parcel of property. Person includes any individual, corporation, partnership, trust, limited liability company, or D.B.A.
(fff) Registered owner means the owner registered with the office of code compliance for a parcel of property. Registered owner includes any individual, corporation, partnership, trust, limited liability company, or D.B.A.
(ggg) Rental means any premises, dwelling, dwelling unit, or rooming unit which is not occupied on a daily basis by the owner(s), and which is offered to let, to hire, or to assign for a period of more than thirty (30) days to any person(s) for any or no consideration.
(1) If any premises, dwelling, dwelling unit, or rooming unit is occupied by any person(s) other than the owner(s) of record, his or her spouse, or their minor dependents, it shall be presumed to be a rental property.
(2) The owner(s) of record shall be established by legal instruments recorded with the register of deeds, including but not limited to warranty deeds or land contracts.
(hhh) Rooming house means a building arranged or occupied for lodging, with or without meals, for compensation and not occupied as a one (1)- or two (2)-family dwelling.
(iii) Rooming unit means any room or group of rooms forming a single habitable unit occupied or intended to be occupied for sleeping or living, but not for cooking purposes.
(jjj) Strict liability offense means any offense for which the prosecution is not required to prove criminal intent as a part of its case. It is enough to prove that the defendant either did an act that was prohibited, or failed to do an act that the defendant was legally required to do.
(kkk) Structure means the whole or part of something that is built or constructed for use as a border, support, shelter, or building.
(lll) Substandard condition means any condition defined as substandard in subsection 10-38(a)(1). Such condition does not make a building unsafe unless so determined by the manager of code compliance or the county health officer.
(mmm) Taxpayer of record means the taxpayer listed with the City of Fremont Assessor for a parcel of property, including any person, corporation, partnership, trust, limited liability company, or D.B.A.
(nnn) Tenant means a person, corporation, partnership or group, whether or not the legal owner of record, occupying a building or portion thereof as a unit.
(ooo) Toilet room means a room containing a toilet or urinal and a lavatory but no bathtub or shower.
(ppp) Trailer means any contrivance without means of self locomotion which is designed to be towed by a motor vehicle for the purpose of transporting property, people or animals.
(qqq) Trash means combustible and noncombustible waste materials, except garbage. Trash includes the residue from burning wood, coal, coke and other combustible materials as well as paper, rags, cartons, boxes, wood, excelsior, rubber, leather, tree branches, yard trimmings, tin cans, metals, mineral matter, glass, crockery and dust and other similar materials.
(rrr) Two (2)-family structure means a building that contains two (2) dwelling units.
(sss) Unsafe means any condition defined as unsafe in Subsec. 10-39(a)(1) through (10) of the Fremont City Code of Ordinances or by state statute.
(ttt) Ventilation means the natural or mechanical process of supplying conditioned or unconditioned air to, or removing such air from, any building space.
(uuu) Watercraft means any contrivance used or designed for operation and the transportation of people or property on water, including but not limited to boats, rafts, vessels, canoes, ships, motor vessels, motorboats, rowboats or personal watercraft.
(vvv) Workmanlike means work executed and performed in a skilled and professional manner, e.g. generally plumb, level, square, in line, undamaged and without marring adjacent work.
(www) Yard means an open space on the same lot with a structure.
(xxx) Zoning code means the Fremont Joint Zoning Code, as amended, as adopted in Chapter 22 of Fremont City Code of Ordinances.
(Ord. No. O-18-01, 2-5-18)