Unless otherwise expressly stated, the following terms shall, for the purposes of this chapter, have the meanings indicated in this section.
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 the singular.
Where terms are not defined through the methods authorized by this section, they shall have their ordinarily accepted meanings or such as the context shall imply.
(1) "Approved" means approved by the Code Official pursuant to this chapter, or approved by the City Manager of the City of Geneva, Ohio, or his or her designee.
(2) "Building Code" means Titles Two and Four of Part Fourteen of the Codified Ordinances of the City.
(3) "Central heating" means the heating system permanently installed and adjusted so as to provide the distribution of heat to all habitable rooms, bathrooms and water closet compartments from a source outside of these rooms.
(4) "Code Official" means the official who is charged with the administration and enforcement of this chapter, or any duly authorized representative of such official.
(5) "Communal kitchen" means a kitchen within a rental unit used by the occupants of more than one unit or shared or used by any person other than the members of one family.
(6) "Dwelling structure" means a building or structure used or designed or intended to be used, all or in part, for residential purposes.
(7) "Dwelling, multifamily" means a building consisting of three or more dwelling units, including duplexes and rooming/boarding houses.
(8) "Dwelling unit" means one or more rooms intended to be occupied by and providing facilities for one family, including rooms and/or facilities for cooking, bathing and toilet facilities.
(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, rats or other pests by eliminating their harborage places; by removing or making inaccessible materials that serve as their food; or by poisoning, spraying, fumigating, trapping or any other approved pest elimination methods.
(11) "Family" means a single individual living upon the premises as a separate unit, or a collective body of persons living together upon the premises as a single housekeeping unit, provided, however, that unless all members are related by blood, marriage or adoption, no such family shall contain over five persons.
(12) "Garbage" means the animal and vegetable waste resulting from the handling, preparation, cooking and consumption of food.
(13) "Habitable room" means a room or enclosed floor space used or intended to be used for living, sleeping or eating purposes, excluding bathrooms, toilet rooms, laundries, pantries, dressing rooms, storage spaces, foyers, hallways, utility rooms, heater rooms, boiler rooms, basement recreation rooms and areas used for kitchen purposes. Wherever living, sleeping or eating space is included in a room or area also used for kitchen purposes, or eating space is included in a room or area also used for kitchen purposes, the Code Official shall determine the portion of the floor area used for kitchen purposes, and such portion, so determined, shall not constitute habitable floor area in determining the habitable floor area of a dwelling unit.
(14) "Hotel" means a building originally designed for hotel purposes and meeting all requirements of State and City laws, rules and regulations in which all or a part thereof is occupied, used, maintained, advertised or held out to the public to be a place where sleeping accommodations are offered for pay to transient guests and in which five or more rooms are used for the accommodation of such guests. For the purpose of this chapter, the word "hotel" shall include motels and motor courts meeting these requirements.
(15) "Housing Code" means Title Six of Part Fourteen of the Codified Ordinances of the City.
(16) "Housing Inspector" means the same as "Code Official."
(17) "Multiple rental unit" means a building containing three or more units, or two or more units above the first or ground floor, or one or more units if the building contains a use other than a rental housing use. For the purpose of applying this definition, any building which is being operated as a rooming house pursuant to a valid Geneva City certificate of occupancy shall be classified as a multiple rental unit. The words "multiple rentals" and "apartment house" are synonymous.
(18) "Occupant" means a person over one year of age, living, sleeping, cooking or eating in, or having actual possession of, a dwelling unit or a room.
(19) "Operator" means a person who has charge, care or control of a dwelling structure, including a renter.
(20) "Owner" means the owner or owners of the premises, including the holder of title thereto subject to contract of purchase, a vendee in possession, a mortgagee or receiver in possession, a lessee or joint lessees of the whole thereof, or an agent or any other person, firm, corporation or fiduciary directly in control of the premises. The person who signs the application for a certificate of occupancy for any premises shall be deemed prima facie to be the owner of said premises, as defined herein.
(21) "Person" means an individual, corporation, partnership or any other group acting as a unit.
(22) "Plumbing" means the practice, materials and fixtures used in the installation, maintenance, extension and alteration of all piping, fixtures, appliances and appurtenances within the scope of the Plumbing Code.
(23) "Plumbing fixture" means a receptacle or device which is either permanently or temporarily connected to the water distribution system of the premises and which demands a supply of water therefrom; which discharges used water, liquid-borne waste materials or sewage, either directly or indirectly, to the sanitary sewer system of the premises; or which requires both a water supply connection and a discharge to the sanitary sewer system of the premises.
(24) "Premises" means a lot, plot or parcel of land, including the buildings or structures thereon.
(25) "Public nuisance" means, but is not limited to, the following:
A. The physical condition, or use, of any premises regarded as a public nuisance at common law;
B. Any physical condition, use or occupancy of any premises or its appurtenances considered an attractive nuisance to children, including, but not limited to, abandoned wells, shafts, basements, and excavations and unsafe fences or structures;
C. Any premises which has unsanitary sewerage or unsanitary plumbing facilities;
D. Any premises designated as unsafe for human habitation or use;
E. Any premises which is manifestly capable of being a fire hazard, or is manifestly unsafe or insecure as to endanger life, limb or property;
F. Any premises from which the plumbing, heating and/or other facilities required by this chapter have been removed; from which utilities have been disconnected, destroyed, removed or rendered ineffective; or for which the required precautions against trespassers have not been provided;
G. Any premises which is unsanitary, which is littered with rubbish or garbage or which has an uncontrolled growth of weeds and/or noxious vegetation; or
H. Any structure or building that is in a state of dilapidation, deterioration or decay; faultily constructed; overcrowded; open, vacant or abandoned; damaged by fire to the extent as not to provide shelter; and in danger of collapse or failure and dangerous to anyone on or near the premises.
(26) "Rubbish" means combustible and noncombustible waste materials, except garbage, as defined herein. "Rubbish" shall include the residue from the burning of wood, coal, coke and other combustible materials, paper, rags, cartons, boxes, wood, excelsior, rubber, leather, tree branches, yard trimmings, tin cans, metals, mineral matter, glass, crockery, dust and other similar materials.
(27) "Structure" means that which is built or constructed, including, without limitation because of enumeration, buildings for any occupancy or use whatsoever, fences, signs, billboards, fire escapes, chute escapes, railings, water tanks, towers, open-grade steps, sidewalks or stairways, tents or anything erected and framed of component parts which are fastened, anchored or rest on a permanent foundation or on the ground.
(28) “Short-term rental” shall mean any unit of rental housing, whether single-family or multi-family, in which the owner leases the unit for a period of not more than 30 days to a person or group of people residing collectively in the unit for the purpose of overnight accommodations. The rental unit may be an entire free-standing structure, a designated apartment, or a room or rooms therein.
(29) “Residential” shall be construed broadly to mean any place where a person or persons use for overnight lodging.
(Ord. 2285. Passed 1-14-91; Ord. 3108. Passed 5-13-13.)