(a) Compliance to Code Required: Exceptions No person shall operate a rooming house, or occupy or let to another for occupancy any rooming unit in any rooming house, except in compliance with the provisions of every section of this Housing Code, except Section 1309.02
(a-1), inclusive and Section 1309.06
(a-g), inclusive.
(b) Permit, Display Required. No person shall operate a rooming house unless he holds a valid rooming house permit issued by the Housing Director in the name of the operator and for the specific rooming house. This permit shall be displayed in a conspicuous place within the rooming house at all times.
(c) Permit Application. A person may apply for a rooming house permit by filing a written application with the Housing Director. The applicant shall present his application to the Chief Building and Zoning Inspector and to the Fire Chief for endorsement, accompanied by payment of one hundred dollars ($100.00) to the Building Official. The applicant shall arrange for an on site serious hazard inspection with said officials, for the conformance of the subject property, to the ordinances, rules and regulations which these officers are required to enforce.
(d) Permit Fee. A person who applies for a rooming house permit shall pay a permit fee of fifty dollars ($50.00) for a rooming house where space is let to five persons or less. He shall pay a permit fee of seven dollars and fifty cents ($7.50) for each additional person.
(e) Conditions of Permit Issuances. The Housing Director shall issue a rooming house permit to a person who:
(1) Files a written application in accordance with this Housing Code and the rules and regulations promulgated by the Building Board of Appeals..
(2) Pay the permit fee required by subsection (d) hereof; and
(3) Complies with the Housing Code and the rules and regulations promulgated by the Building Board of Appeals..
(f) Permit Expiration. Every rooming house permit shall expire at the end of one year following the issuance, unless sooner suspended or revoked as hereinafter provided.
(g) Permit Transfer Prohibited; Procedure on Disposal of Ownership. No such rooming house permit is transferable. Every person holding such a permit shall give notice in writing to the Housing Director within twenty-four hours after having sold, transferred, given away or otherwise disposed of ownership, interest in or control of any rooming house. Such notice shall include the name and address of the person succeeding to the ownership or control of such rooming house.
(h) Notice of Permit Denial. When the Housing Director denies an application for a rooming house permit, he shall notify the applicant in writing. The notice of denial shall include the date of denial, the time within which a request for hearing may be made and a brief statement of the facts upon which denial was based.
(i) Appeal of Denial, Hearing. When the Housing Director denies the application for a rooming house permit, the applicant may request a hearing before the Building Board of Appeals, and the Building Board of Appeals shall hear and determine the cause under the procedure provided in Section 1309.10
(a-m), inclusive.
(j) Notice of Violations. Whenever, upon inspection of any rooming house, the Housing Director finds that conditions or practices exist which are in violation of any provision of this Housing Code, the Housing Director shall give notice in writing to the operator of such rooming house that, unless such conditions or practices are corrected, the operator's rooming house permit will be suspended. The notice shall meet the requirements of Section 1309.10
(b) and shall be served in the manner required by Section 1309.10
(c).
(k) Appeal of Notice of Violations; Hearing. Where an operator of a rooming house has been served with a notice of violation, he may request a hearing before the Building Board of Appeals, and the Building Board of Appeals shall hear and determine the cause under the procedure provided in Section 1309
.
(l) Failure to Comply With Order of Director. When an operator of a rooming house fails to comply with an order of the Housing Director, the Housing Director may:
(1) Suspend the operator's permit until he complies with the order, or
(2) Revoke the operator's permit.
(m) Lifting Suspensions; Reapplying for Permit. When the Housing Director suspends a permit for failure to comply with an order, and the operator subsequently complies with the order, the Housing Director shall lift the suspension. An operator whose permit has been revoked may apply for a new permit after he has complied with the Housing Code and the rules, regulations and orders issued by the Housing Director.
(n) Operations to Cease Upon Receipt of Notice. When an operator of a rooming house receives a notice of suspension or revocation of his permit, such operator shall immediately cease operations of such rooming house and no person shall occupy for sleeping or living purposes any rooming unit therein.
(o) Minimum Bathroom Facilities: Location. Every operator shall supply at least one flush water closet, lavatory basin and bathtub or shower properly connected to a water and sewerage system approved by the Housing Director and in good working condition, for each six persons or fraction thereof residing within a rooming house, including members of the operator's family wherever they share the use of such facilities. However, in a rooming house where rooms are let only to males, flush urinals, may be substituted for not more than one-half the required water closets.
All such facilities shall be so located within the dwelling as to be reasonably accessible from a common hall or passageway to all persons sharing such facilities. Every lavatory basin and bathtub or shower shall be supplied with hot and cold water at all times. No such facilities shall be located in a cellar or basement except by written approval of the Housing Director.
(p) Minimum Floor Space of Sleeping Rooms. Every room occupied for sleeping purposes by one person shall contain at least seventy square feet of floor space. Every room occupied for sleeping purposes by more that one person shall contain at least fifty square feet of floor space for each occupant thereof.
(q) Safe-Access to Street Level Required. Every rooming unit shall have at least one safe, unobstructed means of ingress and egress leading to a safe, open space at ground level and to a public street or alley, without passing through another rooming unit. Where there are more than five persons occupying any rooming units on a second story or where there are more than two stories, a minimum of two approved exitways serving every occupied story above or below the first floor shall be provided.
(r) Sanitary Maintenance of Building Premises. The operator of every rooming house shall be responsible for the sanitary maintenance of all walls, floors and ceilings, and for maintenance of a sanitary condition in every other part of the rooming house. He shall be further responsible for the sanitary maintenance of the entire premises where the entire structure or building is leased or occupied by the operator.
(s) Nonapplicable to Hotels, Motels. The provisions of these regulations which apply to rooming houses shall not apply to hotels and motels.
(Ord. 41-1989. Passed 3-20-89.; Ord. 71-1992. Passed 4-6-92; Ord. 44-2011. Passed 4-18- 11.)