Waterford, Conn., Code of Ordinances ch. 15.08 § 15.08.060

The following definitions apply in the interpretation and enforcement of this chapter. Words not specifically defined in this chapter shall have the common definition set forth in a standard dictionary. Whenever the words "dwelling," "dwelling unit," "rooming units," "premises" and "structure" are used in this chapter, 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 the singular; the masculine gender includes the feminine and the feminine the masculine.
"Accessory building or structure" means a detached building or structure in a secondary or subordinate capacity from the main or principal building or structure on the same premises.
"Appropriate authority" means that person within the governmental structure of the corporate unit who is charged with the administration of the appropriate code.
"Approved" means approved by the local or state authority having such administrative authority.
"Ashes" means the residue from the burning of combustible materials.
"Attic" means any story situated wholly or partly within the roof, and so designed, arranged or built as to be used for business, storage or habitation.
"Basement" means the lowest story of a building, below the main floor and wholly or partially lower than the surface of the ground.
"Building" means a fixed construction with walls, foundation and roof, such as a house, adapted to permanent or continuous occupancy or use.
"Bulk container" means any metal garbage, rubbish and/or refuse container having a capacity of two cubic yards or greater and which is equipped with fittings for hydraulic and/or mechanical emptying, unloading and/or removal.
"Cellar" means a room or group of rooms totally below the ground level and usually under a building.
"Central heating system" means a single system supplying heat to one or more dwelling unit(s) or more than one rooming unit.
"Chimney" means a vertical masonry shaft of reinforced concrete, or other approved noncombustible, heat-resisting material enclosing one or more flues, for the purpose of removing products of combustion from solid, liquid or gaseous fuel.
"Dilapidated" means no longer for the purpose or use for which it was originally intended.
"Dormitory" means a building or a group of rooms in a building used for living and sleeping purposes by four or more persons.
"Dwelling" means any enclosed space wholly or partly used or intended to be used for living, sleeping, cooking and eating; provided that temporary housing as defined in this chapter is not classified as a dwelling. Industrialized housing and modular construction which conform to nationally accepted industry standards and used or intended for use for living, sleeping, cooking and eating purposes are classified as dwellings.
"Dwelling unit" means a room or group of rooms located within a dwelling forming a single habitable unit with facilities used or intended to be used by a single family for living, sleeping, cooking and eating purposes.
"Egress" means an arrangement of exit facilities to assure a safe means of exit from buildings.
"Exterior property areas" means the open space on the premises and on adjoining property under the control of owners or operators of such premises.
"Extermination" means the control and elimination of insects, rodents or other pests by eliminating their harborage places; 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 local or state authority having such administrative authority.
"Fair market value" means a price at which both buyers and sellers are willing to do business.
"Family" means one or more individuals living together and sharing common living, sleeping, cooking and eating facilities (also see "Household").
"Fire hazard" means: 1.
Any device or condition likely to cause fire and which is so situated as to endanger either persons or property;
2. The creation, maintenance or continuance of any physical condition by reason of which there exists a use, accumulation or storage of combustible or explosive material sufficient in amount or so located or in such a manner as to put in jeopardy in event of ignition, either persons or property;
3. The obstruction to or of fire escapes, stairways, aisles, exits, doors, windows, passageways or halls, likely, in the event of fire, to interfere with the operations of the fire department or of the safety and ready egress of occupants.
"Flush water closet" means a toilet bowl which is flushed with water which has been supplied under pressure and equipped with a water-sealed trap above the floor level.
"Garbage" means the animal and vegetable waste resulting from the handling, preparation, cooking, serving and nonconsumption of food.
"Grade" means the finished ground level adjacent to a required window.
"Guest" means an individual who shares a dwelling unit in a nonpermanent status for not more than thirty 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 and utility rooms of less than fifty square feet of floor space, foyers or communicating corridors, stairways, closets and storage spaces, and workshops, hobby and recreation areas.
"Health officer" means the legally designated health authority of the town or his authorized representative.
"Heated water" means water heated to a temperature of not less than one hundred twenty degrees Fahrenheit at the outlet.
"Heating device" means all furnaces, unit heaters, domestic incinerators, cooking and heating stoves and ranges, and other similar devices.
"Hotel" means a building or portion of a building used as a place where sleeping accommodations are furnished for hire or other consideration, with or without board for twenty-five or more guests or employees of the management, or in which thirteen or more sleeping rooms are maintained for such guests or employees. The term "hotel" includes all clubs, schools, dormitories or other buildings which have similar sleeping accommodations, but does not include apartment houses, hospitals, penal institutions or buildings housing the insane. Members of the management's family are not considered as guests or employees.
"Household" means one or more individuals living together in a single dwelling unit and sharing common living, sleeping, cooking and eating facilities (see also "Family").
"Infestation" means the presence within or around a dwelling of any insects, rodents or other pests.
"Junk motor vehicles" means any motor vehicle not displaying proper registration plates and is worn out, discarded and inoperative, or which is ready for dismantling or destruction.
"Kitchen" means any room used for the storage of foods and preparation of foods, and containing the following equipment: sink and/or other device for dish washing, stove or other device for cooking, refrigerator or other device for cool storage of food, cabinets and/or shelves for storage of equipment and utensils, and counter or table for food preparation.
"Kitchenette" means a small kitchen or an alcove containing facilities as described in the definition of "kitchen."
"Lead-based paint" means any paint containing more lead than the level established by the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission as being the safe level of lead in residential paint and paint products.
"Motel" has the same meaning as "hotel."
"Multiple dwelling" means any dwelling containing more than two dwelling units.
"Occupant" means any individual, over one year of age, living, sleeping, cooking or eating in or having possession of a dwelling unit or a rooming unit, except that in dwelling units a guest shall not be considered an occupant.
"Operator" means any person who has charge, care, control or management of a building, or part thereof, in which dwelling units or rooming units are let.
"Ordinary summer conditions" means a temperature ten degrees Fahrenheit below the highest recorded temperature in the locality for the prior ten-year period.
"Ordinary winter conditions" means a temperature fifteen degrees Fahrenheit above the lowest recorded temperature in the locality for the prior ten-year period.
"Owner" means any person who, alone or jointly or severally with others: 1.
Has legal title to any premises, dwelling or dwelling unit, with or without accompanying actual possession thereof; or
2. Has charge, care or control of any premises, dwelling or dwelling unit, as owner or agent of the owner, or any 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 chapter and of rules and regulations adopted pursuant thereto, the same extent as if he were the owner.
"Permissible occupancy" means the maximum number of individuals permitted to reside in a dwelling unit, rooming unit or dormitory.
"Person" means and includes any individual, firm, corporation, association, partnership, cooperative or governmental agency.
"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, and the installation thereof, 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 existence of conditions which will permit an individual or individuals to carry out an activity commenced without interruption or interference, either by sight or sound by unwanted individuals.
"Properly connected" means connected in accordance with all applicable codes and ordinances of the town as from time to time enforced; provided, however, that the application of this definition shall not require the alteration or replacement of any connection in good working order and not constituting a hazard to life or health.
"Rat harborage" means any conditions or place where rats can live, nest or seek shelter.
"Ratproofing" means a form of construction which will prevent the ingress or egress of rats to or from a given space or building, or from gaining access to food, water or harborage. It consists of the closing and keeping closed of every opening in foundations, basements, cellars, exterior and interior walls, ground or first floors, roofs, sidewalk gratings, sidewalk openings and other places that may be reached and entered by rats by climbing, burrowing or other methods, by the use of materials impervious to rat gnawing and other methods approved by the appropriate authority.
"Refuse" means all putrescible and nonputrescible solids (except body wastes), including garbage, rubbish, ashes and dead animals.
"Refuse container" means a watertight container that is constructed of metal, or other durable material impervious to rodents, that is capable of being serviced without creating insanitary conditions, or such other containers as have been approved by the appropriate authority. Openings into the container such as covers and doors shall be tight-fitting.
"Roominghouse" means any dwelling other than a hotel or motel or that part of any dwelling containing one or more rooming units and/or one or more dormitory rooms, and in which persons either individually or as families are housed with or without meals being provided.
"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 purposes.
"Rubbish" means nonputrescible solid wastes (excluding ashes), consisting of either: 1.
Combustible wastes such as paper, cardboard, plastic containers, yard clippings and wood; or
2. Noncombustible wastes such as tin cans, glass and crockery.
"Safety" means the condition of being reasonably 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.
"Space heater" means a self-contained heating appliance of either the convection type or the radiant type and intended primarily to heat only a limited space or area such as one room or two adjoining rooms.
"Supplied" means paid for, furnished by, provided by or under the control of, the owner, operator or agent.
"Temporary housing" means any tent, mobilehome or any other structure used for human shelter which is designed to be transportable and which is not attached to the ground, to another structure, or to any utility system on the same premises for more than thirty consecutive days or no more than ninety days in any calendar year, provided that such tent, trailer, mobilehome or other structure complies with the statutes, ordinances and regulations of the state and the town. Nothing in this chapter is intended to prohibit the use of a tent, trailer, mobilehome or other structure as a dwelling for more than thirty consecutive days or more than ninety days in any calendar year if such tent, trailer, mobilehome or other structure complies with the provisions of this chapter and the statutes, ordinances and regulations of the state and the town.
"Toxic substance" means any chemical product applied on the surface of or incorporated into any structural or decorative material which constitutes a potential hazard to human health at acute or chronic exposure levels.
"Vacant" means any time before a dwelling unit is let to another even though the dwelling unit may at all times be let.
"Variance" means a difference between that which is required or specified and that which is permitted.
"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 with or without wind-driven devices.
"Workmanlike state of maintenance and repair" means such maintenance and repair that is made in a reasonably skillful manner.
"Yard" means an open unoccupied space, on the same lot with a building, extending along the entire length of a street, or rear or interior lot line.