(A) The purpose of this subchapter is to protect the public health, safety, and the general welfare of the people of the city. The general objectives include, among others, the following:
(1) To protect the character, and stability, of all buildings and property within the city;
(2) To correct, and prevent, conditions that adversely affect, or are likely to adversely affect, the life, safety, general welfare, and health, including the physical, mental, and social well-being of persons occupying buildings within the city;
(3) To provide minimum standards for cooking, heating, and sanitary equipment necessary to the health, and safety, of occupants of buildings;
(4) To provide minimum standards for light and ventilation necessary to health and safety;
(5) To prevent the overcrowding of dwellings by providing space standards per occupant for each dwelling;
(6) To provide minimum standards for the maintenance of existing buildings, and to thus prevent slums and blight; and
(7) To preserve the value of land and buildings throughout the city.
(B) With respect to rental disputes, and except as otherwise specifically provided by the terms of this section, it is not the intention of the Council to intrude upon the fair, and accepted, contractual relationship between tenant and landlord. The Council does not intend to intervene as an advocate of either party, nor to act as an arbiter, nor to be receptive to complaints for tenant or landlord which are not specifically, and clearly, relevant to the provisions of this section. In the absence of relevancy with regard to rental disputes, it is intended that the contracting parties exercise the legal sanctions as are available to them without the intervention of city government. Neither, in enacting this section, is it the intention of the Council to interfere, or permit interference, with legal rights to personal privacy.
(Prior Code, § 4.21)