Where terms are not defined through the methods authorized by this section, such terms shall have ordinarily accepted meanings such as the context implies. Words stated in the present tense include the future; words stated in the masculine gender include the feminine and neuter; the singular number includes the plural and the plural, the singular. Where terms are not defined in this code and are defined in the Arkansas Fire Prevention Code, Volumes I, II and III, Tontitown Zoning Code, the Arkansas Plumbing Code, the Arkansas Mechanical Code, and the National Electrical Code, such terms shall have the meanings ascribed to them as in those codes. Whenever the words “dwelling unit,” “dwelling,” “premises,” “building,” “rooming house,” “rooming unit,” “housekeeping unit” or “story” are stated in this code, they shall be construed as though they were followed by the words “or any part thereof.”
APPROVED. Approved by the Code Official.
BASEMENT. That portion of a building which is partly or completely below grade.
BATHROOM. A room containing plumbing fixtures including a bathtub or shower.
BEDROOM. Any room or space used or intended to be used for sleeping purposes.
CODE OFFICIAL. The chief Building Official of the City of Tontitown or his or her designee.
CONDEMN. To adjudge unfit for occupancy.
DWELLING UNIT. A single unit providing complete, independent living facilities for one or more persons, including permanent provisions for living, sleeping, eating, cooking and sanitation.
EASEMENT. That portion of land or property reserved for present or future use by a person or agency other than the legal fee owner(s) of the property. The easement shall be permitted to be for the use under, on or above a said lot or lots.
EXTERIOR PROPERTY. The open space on the premises and on adjoining property under the control of owners or operators of such premises.
EXTERMINATION. The control and elimination of insects, rats or other pests by eliminating their harborage places; by removing or making inaccessible materials that serve as their food; by poison spraying, fumigating, trapping or by any other approved pest-elimination methods.
GARBAGE. The animal or vegetable waste resulting from the handling, preparation, cooking and consumption of food.
GUARD. A building component or a system of building components located at or near the open sides of elevated walking surfaces that minimizes the possibility of a fall from the walking surface to a lower level.
HABITABLE SPACE. Space in a structure for living, sleeping, eating or cooking. Bathrooms, toilet rooms, closets, halls, storage or utility spaces, and similar areas are not considered HABITABLE SPACES.
HOUSEKEEPING UNIT. A room or group of rooms forming a single habitable space equipped and intended to be used for living, sleeping, cooking and eating which does not contain, within such a unit, a toilet, lavatory and bathtub or shower.
IMMINENT DANGER. A condition which could cause serious or life-threatening injury or death at any time.
INFESTATION. The presence, within or contiguous to, a structure or premises of insects, rats, vermin or other pests.
INOPERABLE MOTOR VEHICLE. A vehicle which cannot lawfully be driven upon the public streets for reasons including but not limited to being unregistered, wrecked, dismantled, partially dismantled, abandoned, in a state of disrepair, or incapable of being moved under its own power. A vehicle shall be presumed to be INOPERABLE when any of the following conditions exist:
(1) Weeds and/or grass undergrowth indicates that the vehicle has not moved;
(2) One or more tires is/are flat or missing for more than 72 hours;
(3) Portions of the vehicle which are needed for its operation or control are missing;
(4) Evidence exists that provisions of this code or other existing codes pertaining to zoning or to junk and salvage yards are being violated;
(5) The vehicle has no current vehicle tags or registration;
(6) The engine and/or transmission is/are missing;
(7) Doors, fenders, frames, or axles are missing;
(8) Windshields and/or windows are broken and/or missing;
(9) The vehicle cannot move under its own power.
LABELED. Devices, equipment, appliances, or materials to which have been affixed a label, seal, symbol or other identifying mark of a nationally recognized testing laboratory, inspection agency or other organization concerned with product evaluation that maintains periodic inspection of the production of the above-labeled items and by whose label the manufacturer attests to compliance with applicable nationally recognized standards.
LET FOR OCCUPANCY or LET. To permit, provide or offer possession or occupancy of a dwelling, dwelling unit, rooming unit, building, premise or structure by a person who is or is not the legal owner of record thereof, pursuant to a written or unwritten lease, agreement or license, or pursuant to a recorded or unrecorded agreement of contract for the sale of land.
OCCUPANCY. The purpose for which a building or portion thereof is utilized or occupied.
OCCUPANT. Any individual living or sleeping in a building, or having possession of a space within a building.
OPENABLE AREA. That part of a window, skylight or door which is available for unobstructed ventilation and which opens directly to the outdoors.
OPERATOR. Any person who has charge, care or control of a structure or premises which is let or offered for occupancy.
OWNER. Any person, agent, operator, firm or corporation having a legal or equitable interest in the property; or recorded in the official records of the state, county or municipality as holding title to the property; or otherwise having control of the property, including the guardian of the estate of any such person, and the executor or administrator of the estate of such person if ordered to take possession of real property by a court.
PERSON. An individual, corporation, partnership or any other group acting as a unit.
PREMISES. A lot, plot or parcel of land, easement or public way, including any structures thereon.
PUBLIC WAY. Any street, alley or similar parcel of land essentially unobstructed from the ground to the sky, which is deeded, dedicated or otherwise permanently appropriated to the public for public use.
ROOMING HOUSE. A building arranged or occupied for lodging, with or without meals, for compensation and not occupied as a one- or two-family dwelling.
ROOMING UNIT. Any room or group of rooms forming a single habitable unit occupied or intended to be occupied for sleeping or living, but not for cooking purposes.
RUBBISH. Combustible and noncombustible waste materials, except garbage; the term shall include the residue from the burning of wood, coal, coke and other combustible materials, paper, rags, cartons, boxes, wood, excelsior, rubber, leather, tree branches, yard trimmings, tin cans, metals, mineral matter, glass, crockery and dust and other similar materials.
STRICT LIABILITY OFFENSE. An offense in which the prosecution in a legal proceeding is not required to prove criminal intent as a part of its case. It is enough to prove that the defendant either did an act which was prohibited, or failed to do an act which was prohibited, or failed to perform an act which the defendant was legally required to do.
STRUCTURE. That which is built or constructed, or a portion thereof.
TENANT. A person, corporation, partnership or group, whether or not the legal owner of record, occupying a building or portion thereof as a unit.
THINGS. Include, but are not limited to: the following items: inoperative motor vehicles; inoperative household or commercial appliances; furniture: building materials; building rubbish; defective septic tanks: human or animal excrement; metal, plastic, or paper containers.
(1) ABANDONED. Property to which no person claims or exercises the rights of ownership.
(2) APPLIANCES. Refrigerators, deep freezes, stoves, ovens, air conditioners, washers, dryers, trash compactors, dishwashers, televisions, radios, hot water heaters, and plumbing fixtures.
(3) BUILDING MATERIAL. Items such as boards, bricks, cement, nails, pipe, sheet metal, siding, tar paper and windows which have never been incorporated into a structure or which have been removed from a structure and may be readily incorporated into another structure. This article applies only to building material which lies in public view and with respect to which its owner has no definite immediate plans for its use.
(4) BUILDING RUBBISH. Any post construction solid waste which, because of its quantity, quality or condition, cannot be readily and immediately put to a beneficial use.
(5) INOPERATIVE. An item which, by mechanical or physical defect, can no longer be used for its intended purpose and which is not serving a functional purpose. Inoperative, when applied to motor vehicles, refers to any motor vehicle which is inoperable, dismantled, damaged or is unable to start or move under its own power. A vehicle shall be presumed to be inoperative when any of the following conditions exist:
(a) One or more tires are flat.
(b) One or more wheels are missing.
(c) The hood or trunk is raised or missing and has appeared to remain so for more than three days.
(d) Weeds or grass have grown up around the vehicle.
(e) The engine is missing.
(f) The vehicle has no current vehicle tags or registration.
(g) The door or doors, fender or fenders are removed or missing.
(h) The front or rear windshield is broken, removed or missing, or the side windows are broken or removed or missing.
(6) MOTOR VEHICLE. A self-propelled device that is required under the laws of the State of Arkansas to be licensed in order to be operated upon the public roadways.
TOILET ROOM. A room containing a water closet or urinal but not a bathtub or shower.
UNSANITARY. A place, condition or thing is unsanitary when it might become a breeding place for flies, mosquitoes and germs harmful to the health of the community.
UNSIGHTLY. A place, condition or thing is unsightly when it is in public view and offends the then-prevailing standard of the community as a whole, and not limited to a specific area, as to aesthetics or order.
VENTILATION. The natural or mechanical process of supplying conditioned or unconditioned air to, or removing such air from, any space.
WEEDS. Any vegetation, lush or decayed, regardless of its beauty or utility and regardless of the fact that it might serve as a sanctuary for animals beneficial to man. which, because of its natural condition or lack of maintenance by the owner or occupant of the property, threatens the health or safety of the community or creates an unsightly condition thereon.
WORKMANLIKE. Executed in a skilled manner; for example, generally plumb, level, square, in line, undamaged and without marring adjacent work.
YARD. An open space on the same lot with a structure.
(Ord. 2006-01-243, §§ 154-51--154-55, passed 1-3-06; Am. Ord. 2011-12-384, passed 12-6-11; Am. Ord. 2014-06-474, passed 6-3-14; Am. Ord. 2016-08-592, passed 8-3-16)