Groton, Conn., Code of Ordinances ch. 9 art. IV div. 1 (2026) § 9-109

The following words, terms and phrases, when used in this article, shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section, except where the context clearly indicates a different meaning. Wherever the words "dwelling," "dwelling unit," "roominghouse," "rooming unit," "premises," and "structure" are used in this article, they shall be construed as though they were followed by the words "or any part thereof." Words used in the singular include the plural, and the plural includes the singular; the masculine gender includes the feminine, and the feminine the masculine. ACCESSORY STRUCTURE Means a detached structure which is not used or not intended to be used for living or sleeping by human occupants and which is located on the same premises with a dwelling. APPROVED Means approved by the local or state authority having such administrative jurisdiction. CENTRAL HEATING SYSTEM Means a single system supplying heat to one or more dwelling units or more than one rooming unit. DWELLING Means any enclosed space which is wholly or partly used or intended to be used for living or sleeping by human occupants. DWELLING UNIT Means any room or group of rooms located within a dwelling and forming a single habitable unit with facilities which are used or intended to be used for living, sleeping, cooking and eating. EXTERMINATION Means the control and elimination of insects, rodents or other pests by eliminating their harborages, by removing or making inaccessible materials that may serve as their food, by poisoning, spraying, fumigating, trapping or by any other recognized and legal pest elimination methods approved by the health officer. FAMILY Means any number of individuals related by blood, marriage, or adoption, living together as a single housekeeping unit, provided that a group of not more than seven persons keeping house together, but not necessarily related by blood or marriage, may be considered a family. GARBAGE Means the animal and vegetable waste resulting from the handling, preparation, cooking, serving and consumption of food. GUEST Means any person who shares a dwelling unit in a nonpermanent status for not more than 30 days. HABITABLE ROOM Means a room or enclosed floor space used or intended to be used for living, sleeping, cooking or eating purposes, excluding bathrooms, water closet compartments, laundries, furnace rooms, pantries, kitchenettes, foyers or communicating corridors, stairways, closets, storage spaces and workshops, hobby and recreation areas in unsealed or uninsulated parts of a structure below ground level or in attics. HEALTH OFFICER Means the legally designated health authority of the town. HEATED WATER Means water heated to a temperature of not less than 120 degrees Fahrenheit. HOUSING OFFICIAL Means the building official of the town who shall be charged with the administration and enforcement of this article. INFESTATION Means the presence within a dwelling or other structure in large numbers of insects and rodents. JUNK MOTOR VEHICLE Means a motor vehicle not displaying proper registration plates and found to be abandoned. KITCHEN Means any room containing any or all of the following equipment, or area of a room within three feet of such equipment: sink and/or other devices for dishwashing, stove or other device for cooking, refrigerator or other device for cool storage of food. MULTIFAMILY DWELLING Means any dwelling containing more than two dwelling units. OCCUPANT For the purpose of determining legal responsibility, means the head of the household living, sleeping, cooking or eating in, or actually having possession of a dwelling unit or rooming unit, or any person over the age of 18 of that household when the head of the household cannot be determined, except that in dwelling units a guest will not be considered an occupant; in section 9-180 and for the purpose of determining use, occupant shall mean any person over one year of age, living, sleeping, cooking or eating in, or actually having possession of a dwelling unit or rooming unit, except that in dwelling units a guest will not be considered an occupant. OPERATOR Means any person who has charge, care or control of a building, or part thereof, in which dwelling units or rooming units are let. OWNER Means any person who alone or jointly, or severally with others: (1) Shall have legal title to any dwelling or dwelling unit, with or without accompanying actual possession thereof; or (2) Shall have charge, care or control of any dwelling unit as owner or agent of the owner, or an executor, administrator, trustee or guardian of the estate of the owner. Any such person, thus representing the actual owner, shall be bound to comply with the provisions of this article and of rules and regulations adopted pursuant thereto to the same extent as if he were the owner. PERSON Means and includes any individual, firm, corporation, association or partnership. PLUMBING Means and includes all of the following supplied facilities and equipment: gas pipes, gas burning equipment, water pipes, garbage disposal units, waste pipes, water closets, sinks, installed dishwashers, lavatories, bathtubs, shower baths, installed clothes washing machines, catch basins, drains, vents, and any other similar supplied fixtures, together with all connections to water, sewer, septic tank or gas lines. PREMISES Means a platted lot or part thereof or unplatted lot or parcel of land, or plot of land, either occupied or unoccupied by any dwelling or nondwelling structure, and includes any such building, accessory structure or other structure thereon. PRIVACY Means the ability of a person to carry out an activity commenced without interruption or interference, either by sight or sound, by unwanted persons. REFUSE Means all putrescible and nonputrescible solids, except human wastes, including garbage, rubbish and dead animals. 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. ROOMINGHOUSE Means any dwelling or that part of any dwelling containing one or more rooming units in which space is occupied by three or more persons who are not members of a single family. RUBBISH Means nonputrescible solid wastes consisting of both: (1) Combustible wastes such as paper, cardboard, plastic containers, yard clippings and wood; and (2) Noncombustible wastes such as tin cans, glass and crockery. SAFETY Means the condition of being free from danger and hazards which may cause accidents or disease. SEPTIC TANK Means a watertight receptacle which is used for the treatment of sewage and is designed and constructed to permit the settling of solids, the digestion of organic matter by detention and the discharge of the liquid portion into a leaching field. SINGLE-FAMILY DWELLING Means any dwelling occupied by not more than one family. SPACE HEATER Means a self-contained, automatically controlled, vented, electrical or gas burning appliance of either the circulating type or the radiant type. SUPPLIED Means paid, furnished, provided by or under the control of the owner or operator. VACANT Means any time before a dwelling unit is let to another even though the dwelling unit may at all times be let.