(a) Leasing for Residential Occupancy or Short-term Rentals; Restrictions. No owner, operator or agent shall rent or lease, or offer for rental or lease, any rental units, or any part thereof, which does not comply with the provisions of the Rental Housing Code. However, Section 1462.09(b) through (f) shall not apply to short-term rentals.
(b) Occupancy Limitation of Rental Units. The occupancy of any rental unit shall be limited to one, and only one, family, and to any authorized persons occupying such dwelling unit with such family.
(c) Habitable Floor Area. Every single-family and multifamily rental dwelling unit shall conform to the following standards:
(1) Portions of any room which do not presently meet all of the requirements for habitable rooms under any section of this chapter shall not be included in determining the habitable floor area of a rental unit.
(2) Every rental unit shall contain at least 120 square feet of habitable floor area for the first occupant thereof, and at least 100 additional square feet of habitable floor area for each occupant thereafter.
Additionally, every rental unit shall have not less than 250 square feet of habitable floor area and shall contain at least one room which shall have not less than 120 square feet of habitable floor area and which is not less than ten feet in width, provided, however, that no room used to compute compliance with such 250 square feet minimum limitation shall be less than seven feet in width nor less than seventy square feet in habitable floor area.
(3) No portion of any room which is less than seven feet in width shall be included in determining habitable floor area.
(4) All habitable rooms shall have a clear ceiling height of not less than seven feet, provided that rooms with sloping ceilings shall have a clear ceiling height of not less than six feet, nine inches, in at least one-half of their habitable floor area. In determining the habitable floor area of rooms with sloping ceilings, all portions of less than five feet in height shall be disregarded.
(5) The third floor area of a double house or of a two-family dwelling, or of a multifamily dwelling consisting of side-by-side rental units, sometimes known as row houses, shall be used to compute compliance with the requirements for a minimum habitable floor area for a family occupying a dwelling unit in such double house, two-family dwelling or multifamily dwelling, to the extent permitted by subsection (a) hereof, but subject to the requirements and limitations of this subsection, as follows:
A. Where there are two separate approved stairways from the third floor area to the ground floor of such building, seventy-five percent of the habitable floor area of the third floor shall be used to compute compliance with the requirements for minimum habitable floor area for a family occupying a rental unit in a double house or multifamily dwelling, or occupying the second floor of a two-family dwelling.
B. Where there is only one approved stairway from the third floor area to the ground floor of such building, fifty percent of the habitable floor area of the third floor shall be used to compute compliance with the requirements for minimum habitable floor area for a family occupying a rental unit in a double house or multifamily dwelling, or occupying the second floor of a two-family dwelling.
C. No portion of the habitable floor area on the third floor shall be used to compute compliance with the requirements for minimum habitable floor area for a family occupying a rental unit on the first floor of a two-family dwelling.
D. No portion of the floor area on the third floor used for storage purposes shall be included in determining the habitable floor area of such third floor.
E. No portion of any room on the third floor which does not presently meet all of the requirements for habitable rooms under any section of this chapter shall be included in determining the habitable floor area of such third floor.
F. No portion of the habitable floor area on the third floor of any dwelling shall be used to compute compliance with the requirements for minimum habitable floor area for a family occupying a rental unit in such dwelling, unless such family has the exclusive use, other than for storage purposes, of such third floor.
(d) Habitable Floor Area of Sleeping Rooms; Restrictions. Every room used for sleeping purposes shall contain not less than seventy square feet of habitable floor area if used for one occupant, and not less than fifty square feet of habitable floor area per occupant if used by more than one occupant.
(e) Habitable Rooms Below Grade; Restrictions. No room which has its floor level below grade shall be occupied as a habitable room unless, in addition to all other requirements of this chapter for habitable rooms, it shall conform to the following standards:
(1) The room shall have been originally designed and constructed, or legally converted to use, as a habitable room.
(2) The walls and floor enclosing the room shall be maintained in such condition as to prevent the entrance of moisture into the habitable space.
(3) All required openings for light and ventilation shall be located entirely above the average adjoining grade, provided, however, that such openings may face upon an areaway or window well where the width of such well, measured perpendicularly to the building wall at such opening, is not less than the distance from the bottom of the window to the finished grade at such window.
(4) The height of the finished ceiling of such room above the average adjoining ground level shall be at least fifty percent of the clear ceiling height of the room.
(f) Required Window Area. Every habitable room shall be provided with natural light by one or more windows facing upon an approved open space. The aggregate glass area of such required windows shall be not less than eight percent of the habitable floor area of the room served by them.
(Ord. 2285. Passed 1-14-91; Ord. 3108. Passed 5-13-13.)