The following regulations shall apply in all rooming houses:
(a) Preparation or eating of meals in rooming units prohibited.
No occupant of a rooming house shall prepare or eat meals in a rooming house unless such meals are prepared or eaten in a dwelling unit contained therein; however, roomers may prepare and eat meals in a communal kitchen and may eat meals in a communal dining room in accordance with the provisions of subsection (b) hereof.
(1) As used herein, "meals" means foods that are prepared for consumption within the rooming unit by any form of heating and/or cooking.
(2) Only those dishes, food containers and utensils that are readily disposable are permitted to be used in rooming units.
(b) Communal kitchens and dining rooms.
(1) A communal kitchen shall comply with the following requirements:
A. The minimum floor area shall be sixty square feet;
B. The minimum floor area of a communal kitchen in which roomers are permitted to prepare and eat meals shall be 100 square feet;
C. A communal kitchen in which occupants are permitted to eat meals shall be supplied with one dining chair and two lineal feet of dining table space, in addition to the required surface area for food preparation required under subsection (b)(1)H. hereof, for each occupant of a rooming house who is permitted to eat in the kitchen at any particular time. The surface of each dining table shall be smooth, free of cracks, and easily cleanable;
D. A communal kitchen containing less than 100 square feet of floor area shall not be used for the eating of meals. The eating of meals in a rooming house, prepared in such a kitchen, shall be restricted to a communal dining room which complies with the provisions of subsection (b)(2) hereof.
E. It shall contain at least one supplied kitchen sink of an approved type. Every kitchen sink in a communal kitchen shall have a minimal size of 24" x 20" if single bowl; or 42" x 20" if double bowl; and shall be in good working condition and properly connected to an approved water supply system which provides at all times an adequate amount of hot and cold running water under pressure, and which is connected to an approved sewer or septic system;
F. It shall contain at least one supplied kitchen gas stove or electric stove. Every such supplied stove shall have at least two top burners and an oven;
G. It shall contain one supplied refrigerator with an adequate food storage capacity;
H. It shall contain at least one supplied table or other facility having a total surface area for food preparation of not less than six square feet. The surface of each such table or other facility shall be suitable for the preparation of food, smooth, free of cracks, and easily cleanable;
I. It shall contain at least one supplied cabinet of adequate size and suitable for storage of food and eating and cooking utensils; and
J. Every communal kitchen shall be located within a room accessible to the occupant of each rooming unit sharing the use of such kitchen, without going outside of the dwelling and without going through a dwelling unit or rooming unit of another occupant.
(2) Every rooming house, within which the occupant of any rooming unit is permitted to prepare meals or cook within a communal kitchen containing less than 100 square feet of floor area, as provided in subsection (b)(1) hereof, shall contain a communal dining room which complies with all of the following requirements:
A. Every communal dining room shall be located on the same floor of the rooming house as the communal kitchen and such dining room shall be as nearly adjacent to the communal kitchen as is practicable;
B. Every communal dining room shall be located within a room accessible to the occupant of each rooming unit sharing such dining room without going outside of the dwelling, and without going through a dwelling unit or rooming unit of another occupant;
C. Every communal dining room shall contain not less than seventy square feet of floor area; and
D. Every communal dining room shall be supplied with one dining chair and two lineal feet of dining table space for each occupant of a rooming house who is permitted to occupy such a dining room at any particular time. The surface of each dining table shall be smooth, free of cracks, and easily cleanable.
(Ord. 325-81. Passed 6-2-81.)
(c) Access doors to rooming units shall have operating locks to insure privacy.
(d) The operator of every rooming house shall supply clean bed linen and towels therein at least once each week and prior to the letting of any room to any occupant. The operator shall be responsible for the maintenance of all supplied bedding in a clean and sanitary manner. Bedding shall include any bed frame, mattress, springs, as well as linens, mattress covers, sheets, pillows and pillow covers.
(e) Every room in a rooming house used for living and/or sleeping purposes shall comply with all the requirements of this regulation pertaining to a habitable room.
(f) Every room occupied for sleeping purposes by one person shall contain at least eighty square feet of floor space, and every room occupied for sleeping purposes by more than one person shall contain at least sixty-eight square feet of floor space for each additional occupant thereof, every such room shall contain at least four square feet of floor-to-ceiling height closet space per occupant thereof, or if it is lacking, in whole or in part, an amount of space equal in square footage to the deficiency shall be subtracted from the area of habitable room space used in determining permissible occupancy except that in a dormitory room, such closet or closet space may be provided in another portion of the rooming house.
(g) Every room unit where the top of the window sills is fifteen feet or more above average grade shall be provided with either of the following:
(1) Immediate access to two or more safe, unobstructed means of egress, with minimum headroom of six feet six inches, leading to safe and open space at ground level, as required by the laws of the State and the City.
(2) At least one means of egress in compliance with the preceding paragraph; and an area of refuge which shall meet the following:
A. Twelve square feet of area outside the building proper shall be provided for each bedroom. The floor of such area shall have a slope of not more than two inches per foot. The minimum dimension of this area shall be three feet.
B. The sill of the access to such space shall not be more than three feet above the floor of the dwelling unit.
C. Access opening to such refuge area shall not be less than 720 square inches in area with a minimum dimension of twenty-four inches.
(Ord. 118-79)
(h) Every unit shall be easily accessible from every rooming unit and dwelling unit by passage through public passage way and without passing through any part of any other rooming unit or dwelling unit. Exits shall be unobstructed at all times.
(1952 Code § 40-3-1.4; Ord. 847-74)