As used in this Code, the following definitions shall apply:
(1) "Accessory structure" means a building, the use of which is incidental to that of the main building and which is located on the same lot.
(2) "Administrator" means the officer charged with the administration and enforcement of the Building Code or this Code and shall be construed as though followed by the words "or his agent" or representative.
(3) "Agent" means any person who has charge, care, or control of a structure, dwelling or premises or a part thereof.
(4) "Approved" means approved by the Administrator pursuant to the Code, or approved by any other authority designated by the ordinances of the City of Wauseon, Ohio, to give approval of the matter in question.
(5) "Approved manner" means done in a manner which complies with this Code or the City Building Code or any other laws applicable to the construction, repair and maintenance of residential and nonresidential structures.
(6) "Authorized person" means a person with the actual or apparent authority to act for another.
(7) "Basement" means a portion of the building partly underground, but having more than half its ceiling height below the average grade of the adjoining ground.
(8) "Board" means the Board of Zoning Appeals of the City of Wauseon.
(9) "Building Code" means the One, Two, and Three Family Dwelling Code of Wauseon, including any applicable State Building Code.
(10) "Ceiling height" means the clear vertical distance from the finished floor to the finished ceiling.
(11) "Certified mail" means mail which provides a return receipt showing the name of the person delivered to and the date of delivery.
(12) "Code" means this Code, or the One, Two and Three Family Dwelling Code, or the Residential and Nonresidential Maintenance Code.
(13) "Court" means a space, open and unobstructed to the sky, located at or above grade level on a lot and bounded structurally on three or more sides.
(14) "Deterioration" means the condition or appearance of a building or part thereof, characterized by holes, breaks, rot, crumbling, cracking, peeling, rusting, or other evidence of physical decay, neglect, or lack of maintenance.
(15) "Door, exterior" means a door manufactured or constructed of materials 1-3/4 inches in thickness and faced with an approved weather resisting covering properly attached to resist wind and rain and installed in an weather-tight opening in accordance with the Building Code.
(16) "Dwelling" means that part of any structure, whether occupied or vacant, designed for use by human occupants for sleeping and living purposes, and shall include factory built structures.
(17) "Dwelling unit" means one or more rooms arranged for the use of one or more individuals as a single house-keeping unit, with cooking, living, sanitary and sleeping facilities excluding State approved nursing or group homes.
(18) "Efficiency apartment" means a dwelling unit consisting of one room of not less than 400 square feet, exclusive of bathrooms, closets and hallways. Every efficiency apartment shall access a water closet in an adjacent room which is provided exclusively for the use of the occupant.
(19) "Egress" an arrangement of exit facilities to assure a safe means of exit from buildings.
(20) "Existing building" means a building erected prior to the adoption of the Building Code or this Code, or one for which a legal building permit has been issued.
(21) "Exposed to public view" means any premises, or any part thereof, or any building, structure or any part thereof, which may be lawfully viewed by the public.
(22) "Exterior of the premises" means those portions of a building or structure which are exposed to public view and the open space of any premises outside of any building or structure erected thereon.
(23) "Extermination" means the control and elimination of insects, rodents or other pests by eliminating their habitat; by removing or making inaccessible materials that may serve as their food; or by poison, spraying, fumigating, trapping, or by any other approved pest elimination methods.
(24) "Factory built housing" means structure designed for long-term residential use, including but not limited to modular homes, mobile homes, and manufactured homes.
(25) "Factory built structure" means any structure that is wholly, or in substantial part, made, fabricated, formed or assembled in a manufacturing facility, transported to a site for installation or assembly and is installed on a building site.
(26) "Family" means an individual; two or more persons related by blood, marriage or law; or a group of not more than any five unrelated persons living together in a dwelling unit. Servants having common housekeeping facilities are a part of the family for the purpose of this Code.
(27) "Fire hazard" means any thing or act which increases or may cause any increased potential for fire to a greater degree than that customarily recognized as acceptable by persons in the public service of preventing, suppressing, or extinguishing fire, or that which may obstruct, delay, or hinder or may become the cause of an obstruction, delay, hazard, or hinderance to the prevention, suppression, or extinguishment of fire or any other fire hazard defined in the Codified Ordinances of the City.
(28) "Foundation elements" means the elements which make up the foundation, ie: poured concrete, cement block, brick, treated lumber, etc.
(29) "Garbage" means the waste resulting from the handling, preparation, cooking and/or the consumption of food.
(30) "Grade" means the finished ground level adjoining the building at all exterior walls.
(31) "Grade floor window" means a window located such that the sill height of the window is not more than forty-four inches above the finished grade adjacent to the window.
(32) "Habitable space" means any room or group of rooms used for sleeping, living, cooking or dining purposes, excluding such enclosed places as closets, pantries, bath or toilet rooms, hallways, laundries, storage spaces, utility rooms, and similar spaces.
(33) "Hazardous natural growth" means dead trees and limbs or other natural growth which, by reason of rotting or deteriorating conditions or storm drainage, constitute a hazard to persons.
(34) "Hearing Officer" means the Zoning Code Administrator, or his designee.
(35) "Hot water" means water at a temperature of not less than 1200 F.
(36) "Immediate neighborhood" means an area denoting a limited number of properties located within the same or adjoining block or within 450 feet of the affected property.
(37) "Immediate action" means any action taken or required to be taken within twenty-four hours.
(38) "Infestation" means the presence of insects, rodents, vermin or other pests.
(39) "Kitchen" means an area used, or designated to be used, for the preparation of food.
(40) "Law Director" means the City Law Director of the City of Wauseon or his designee.
(41) "Manufactured home" means a factory-built structure that is manufactured or constructed under the authority of the laws, rules and regulations of the Department of Housing and Urban Development or to its successors and is to be used as a place for human habitation, but which is not constructed or equipped with a permanent hitch or other device which would allow the unit to be moved other than for the purpose of moving the unit to a permanent site, and which does not have permanently attached to its body or frame any wheels or axles. A mobile home is not a manufactured home.
(42) "Mixed occupancy" means any building containing one or more dwelling units or rooming units and also having a portion thereof devoted to nonresidential uses.
(43) "Mobile home" means a transportable, factory-built structure, designed to be used as a year-round residential dwelling and built prior to enactment of the Federal Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974, which became effective June 15, 1976.
(44) "Multiple dwelling" means a building containing two or more dwelling units.
(45) "Occupant" means a person living, sleeping, cooking and/or eating in a dwelling unit or room.
(46) "Occupy" means to reside in or be used by an owner-occupant.
(47) "Operable area" means that part of a window, vent or door which is available for unobstructed ventilation and which opens directly to the outdoors.
(48) "Owner" means the owner or owners of the premises including the holder of the title thereto, subject to contract of purchase; a vendee in possession; a mortgagee or receiver in possession; or a representative.
(49) "Person" means an individual, firm, corporation, association or partnership.
(50) "Premises" means a lot, parcel or plot of land including the buildings or structures thereon.
(51) "Privacy" means the existence of conditions which will permit an individual or individuals to carry out an activity without interruption or interference, either by sight or sound, by unwanted individuals.
(52) "Public nuisance" means:
(1) Any public nuisance known in equity jurisprudence, or as provided by the statutes of the State of Ohio or the ordinances of the City of Wauseon.
(2) Conditions dangerous to human life or detrimental to the health of persons who may be affected by such conditions due to the active and negligent operation thereof.
(3) Unsanitary conditions or anything offensive to the senses or dangerous to health, in violation of this Code.
(4) Fire hazards.
(53) "Rooming unit" means any room or group of rooms forming a single habitable unit used or intended to be used for living and sleeping, but not for cooking or eating purposes.
(54) "Rubbish" means combustible and non-combustible waste materials, except garbage, and 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 and other accumulation of vegetation, tin cans, metals, mineral matter, glass, crockery, dust and other similar materials.
(55) "Structure" means any assembly of materials forming a construction for occupancy or use including, but not limited to, buildings, mobile homes, factory built homes, tents, platforms, towers, water tanks, open sheds, swimming pools, shelters and fences.
(56) "Supply or supplied" means paid for, furnished, or provided by or under the control of the owner or agent.
(57) "Unsanitary condition" means any condition determined as presenting a health hazard to the general public or any member thereof.
(58) "Unsightly condition" means any condition which debases or deteriorates the appearance of the neighborhood.
(59) "Ventilation" means the process of supplying and removing air by natural or mechanical means to or from any space:
(1) Mechanical: Ventilation by power-driven devices.
(2) Natural: Ventilation by opening to outer air through windows, skylights, doors, louvers, or stacks other than by mechanical means.
(60) "Weathering" means deterioration, decay or damage caused by exposure to the elements.
(61) "Workmanlike" means performed or done in a reasonably skillful manner and in compliance with the Building Code.
(Ord. 1989-36. Passed 7-10-89; Ord. 1990-28. Passed 6-18-90.)