For the purpose of this article, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
Administrator. The term “administrator” shall mean the department(s) or division(s) of the city designated by the City Manager to administer and/or enforce the provisions of this article and any person or persons designated by such a division or department to represent the division or department for said purpose.
Bathroom. The term “bathroom” shall mean an enclosed space containing one or more bathtubs, showers, or both, and which may also include toilets, lavatories or fixtures serving similar purposes.
Bedroom. The term “bedroom” shall mean a room used or intended to be used for sleeping purposes and not as a kitchen, bathroom, living room, closet, hallway, utility space, entry way, garage, patio or breezeway.
Building code. The term “building code” shall mean the official building code of the city in effect at the time of construction; provided, however, that all existing structures and equipment and any replacement or new installation must comply with the current official building code of the city to the extent required by said code.
City. The term “city” shall mean the City of Longview, Texas, and all areas within its corporate limits.
Condominium. The term “condominium” shall mean a complex of individually owned residential units with undivided co-ownership of common elements.
Congregate residence. The term “congregate residence” shall mean any building or portion thereof which contains facilities for living, sleeping, and sanitation (and may include facilities for cooking and eating) for occupancy by other than a family, such as a shelter, a convent, a monastery, a dormitory, a fraternity or sorority house, a jail, or a hospital.
Construction codes. The term “construction codes” shall mean the building code, electrical code, energy conservation code, fire code, fuel gas code, mechanical code, and plumbing code, collectively.
Dwelling unit. The term “dwelling unit” shall mean any room or group of rooms providing complete, independent living facilities for the occupants thereof and occupied, or which is intended or designed to be occupied, as the home or residence of one individual, group of individuals, family or household, including permanent provisions for living, sleeping, eating, cooking and sanitation.
Electrical code. The term “electrical code” shall mean the official electrical code of the city in effect at the time of construction; provided, however, that all existing structures and equipment and any replacement or new installation must comply with the current official electrical code of the city to the extent required by said code.
Energy conservation code. The term “energy conservation code” shall mean the official energy conservation code of the city in effect at the time of construction; provided, however, that all existing structures and equipment and any replacement or new installation must comply with the current official energy conservation code of the city to the extent required by said code.
Exterminated and Extermination. The terms “exterminated” and “extermination” shall mean the control and elimination of insects, rodents, and vermin by eliminating their places of harborage and by removing, or making inaccessible, materials that may serve as their food and by poisoning, spraying, fumigating, trapping, or by any other approved means of pest elimination.
Fire code. The term “fire code” shall mean the official fire code of the city in effect at the time of construction; provided, however, that all existing structures and equipment and any replacement or new installation must comply with the current official fire code of the city to the extent required by said code.
Fuel gas code. The term “fuel gas code” shall mean the official fuel gas code of the city in effect at the time of construction; provided, however, that all existing structures and equipment and any replacement or new installation must comply with the current official fuel gas code of the city to the extent required by said code.
Garbage. The term “garbage” shall mean putrescible animal and vegetable wastes resulting from the handling, preparation, cooking and consumption of food.
Infestation. The term “infestation” shall mean the presence, within or continuous to a dwelling unit, of insects, rodents, vermin, or other pests.
Kitchen. The term “kitchen” shall mean the space used for cooking or preparation of food.
Landlord. The term “landlord” shall mean the owner or lessor of a multi-family dwelling complex and additionally includes a management company or managing agent (including an on-site manager) of a multi-family dwelling complex.
Litter. The term “litter” shall mean garbage, refuse, and rubbish and all other waste material.
Mechanical code. The term “mechanical code” shall mean the official mechanical code of the city in effect at the time of construction; provided, however, that all existing structures and equipment and any replacement or new installation must comply with the current official mechanical code of the city to the extent required by said code.
Multi-family dwelling complex. The term “multi-family dwelling complex” shall mean any building or group of buildings that provides three or more dwelling units owned by the same person on a single platted lot, or if the land on which the building or buildings is unplatted, then any building or group of buildings that provides three or more dwelling units owned by the same person on a contiguous tract of land under a common ownership.
(1) The term also includes any accessory structures and facilities incidental to the use thereof, including but not limited to yards, courts, parking areas, storage buildings, equipment buildings, mail rooms, laundry facilities, swimming pools, spas, ponds, cabanas, play rooms and play yards, recreational and picnic facilities, public assembly rooms, garages, carports, fences, walls, and all other similar building structures, and facilities on the premises.
(2) The term shall not include hotels, motels, or congregate residences. The term shall also not include a premises that is inspected by a state or federal governmental entity for compliance with the provisions of any state or federal law or regulation regulating the fitness of said premises for human habitation if at least 50% of the dwelling units of the premises are subject to said state or federal law or regulation. For purposes of this definition, the term “state or federal governmental entity” shall mean the government of the United States; a department, division, agency or subdivision of the United States government; the State of Texas; or a political subdivision of the State of Texas. Also for purposes of this definition, the term “state or federal law or regulation” shall mean a law, rule, regulation or standard of a) the government of the United States; b) a department, division, agency or subdivision of the United States government; c) the State of Texas; or d) a political subdivision of the State of Texas other than the city.
Multi-family dwelling license. The term “multi-family dwelling license” shall mean the license issued by the administrator pursuant to this article and referred to as “license” in this article.
Occupant. The term “occupant” shall mean any individual over one year of age living, sleeping, cooking, or eating in or having actual possession of or access to a dwelling unit; provided, however, that no individual under ten years of age shall be subject to criminal liability under the provisions of this article.
Owner. The term “owner” shall mean any person holding title to a multi-family dwelling complex according the deed of records in the County Clerk’s office of the county in which the multi-family dwelling complex is located.
Person. The term “person” shall mean an individual, partnership, firm, company, corporation, association, business trust, estate trust, partnership, or association, two or more persons having a joint or common interest, or any other legal or commercial entity.
Plumbing. The term “plumbing” shall mean all of the following supplied facilities, equipment, and devices: gas pipes, toilets, lavatories, sinks, laundry tubs, catch basins, wash basins, bathtubs, shower baths, waste sewer pipes and sewerage system, septic tanks, drains, vents, traps, and any other fuel-burning or water-using fixtures and appliances, including private fire hydrants, together with all connections to water, wastewater, sewer, or gas pipes.
Plumbing code. The term “plumbing code” shall mean the official plumbing code of the city in effect at the time of construction; provided, however, that all existing structures and equipment and any replacement or new installation must comply with the current official plumbing code of the city to the extent required by said code.
Premises. The term “premises” shall mean a lot, plot or parcel of land, including any structures thereon.
Property manager. The term “property manager” shall mean a person who has managing control of real property; in a condominium regime, the term shall include the council of owners, the homeowner association or the entity having control over the common, co-owned elements.
Refuse. The term “refuse” shall mean residential refuse and bulky waste, construction debris, and stable matter generated at a residential unit, unless the context otherwise requires.
Rubbish. The term “rubbish” shall mean nonputrescible solid wastes consisting of both combustible and non-combustible wastes, such as paper, wrapping, cigarettes, cardboard, tin cans, yard clippings, leaves, wood, glass, bedding, crockery and similar materials.
Structure. The term “structure” shall mean that which is built or constructed, an edifice or building of any kind, or any piece of work artificially built up or composed of parts joined together in some definite manner.
(Ord. No. 3099, § 4, 2-14-02; Ord. No. 3525, § 16, 6-14-07)