Everett, Mass., Code of Bylaws art iii habitation § 10-35

( C0368-16 ) (a) Purpose. It is the intent of these regulations to control and reduce the rodent population of the City of Everett by modifying the environment to create conditions adverse to the continued reproduction, colonization, and existence of rats. (b) Definitions. “Building” means any structure, whether public or private, which is devoted to or designed for occupancy of any kind, for the transaction of business of any nature, for the rendering of professional services, for amusement, for the display, sale, or storage of goods, wares, or merchandise, or for the performance of work or labor. “Burrow” means a below-ground nest or harborage for rats. “Debris” means the worthless remains that result from the destruction or breaking down of anything. “Director” means the Health Director for the City of Everett. The term also means the authorized representative of the Director. “Evidence of rats” means the natural presence of rat runs, burrows, fecal droppings, rubmarks, gnaw marks, tail drag marks, tracks or other signs which may be associated with the presence of rats, as well as the visual sighting, hearing, smelling, or otherwise sensing of the presence of rats. “Garbage” means the refuse of animal or vegetable matter from households, other activity. “Harborage” means any place which provides shelter or protection for rats, thus favoring their reproduction, presence, or continued existence on the premises. “Occupant” means the person who has the use of or occupies any building or any part thereof or who has the use or possession, actual or constructive, of the premises, whether the actual owner or tenant. In the case of vacant buildings or vacant portions of a business building, or in case of occupancy in whole or in part by the owner, the owner of the building shall be deemed to be, and shall have the responsibility of, an occupant of such building. “Opening” means any opening in the foundation, sides of walls, ground or first floor, basement, chimneys, eaves, grills, windows, ventilators, walk grates, elevators of a building, and any pipes, wires, or other installations through which a rat may enter. “Owner” means the person owning the building or premises. “Person” means individuals, firms, partnerships, associations, public or private institutions, municipalities, political subdivisions of the State of Massachusetts, governmental agencies, and public or private corporations. “Premises” means a parcel of real property, including all buildings located thereon. “Rat” means a long-tailed rodent belonging to the genus Rattus, including the Norway rat and roof rat. “Rat eradication” means the elimination or extermination of rats from premises and from rat harborages of any kind by measures such as baiting, fumigation, or trapping and, where necessary, rat-proofing such that the premises and rat harborages are completely freed of rats, and there is no evidence of rat infestation remaining. “Rat-proof container” shall mean a garbage can or other container reasonably impervious to rats. “Rat-proofing” means to prevent the ingress of rats into buildings from the exterior or from one building to another. It consists of the closing, with material impervious to rat gnawing, of all openings in the exterior walls, ground or first floors, basements, roofs, and foundations that may be reached by rats from the ground by climbing or by burrowing. “Rat-tight condition of sewers” means the condition achieved by the construction and maintenance of sewer lines, manholes, and all other parts of the sewer system in such a manner as to prevent rats from exiting through openings or breaks. “Refuse” means material rejected or thrown aside as worthless. “Rubmark” means a dark, sometimes greasy mark formed from contact by the rat’s body. “Run” means a narrow pathway of beaten earth and vegetation swept clear of debris by the frequent travel of a rat. “Trash” means any accumulation of waste materials no longer of any use, including but not limited to paper, sweepings, dust, rags, bottles, cans, or cardboard. (c) General Provisions. (1) All premises within the City of Everett shall be free of rats and maintained in a rat-free condition; (2) Rat harborages shall be eliminated, buildings shall be maintained in a rat-proof condition, foods and foodstuffs shall be stored and handled so as to be inaccessible to rats; and (3) Where rat infestation is evident, effective measures of rat eradication shall be instigated by the person occupying the premises or in the absence of an occupant, by the owner. (d) Storage and Handling of Food and Foodstuffs. (1) All food for human consumption and feed for animals and fowl shall be stored in rat-free and rat-proof containers, compartments, or rooms unless stored in a rat-free and rat-proof building. (2) Feed for animals and fowl shall not be left on the ground, on the floor or left in feed pans, trough, and other feeder containers any longer than necessary to feed the animals and fowl unless such feeder equipment is made inaccessible to rats. (3) Foods for human consumption shall not be left on floors, counters, or otherwise exposed so as to provide food for rats. (4) When feeding birds, the feed should be kept at all times on raised platforms which are made inaccessible to rats. Bird food shall not be placed on the ground when there is evidence of rats on the premises or on nearby premises. (e) Storage and Disposal of Garbage, Refuse, and Debris. (1) No person shall place, leave, dump, or permit to accumulate any garbage, refuse, debris, or trash on any premises, alley, or roadway, so as to afford food or harborage for rats. (2) All garbage shall be placed and stored in rat-proof containers until collected. (f) Rat Harborage. (1) Conditions which provide rat harborage shall not exist on premises. No person shall accumulate or permit the accumulation of boxes, bottles, cans, containers, junk appliances, or other similar objects which afford rat harborage. (2) When there is evidence of rats upon premises, the following persons shall be jointly and severally responsible to remove from such premises objects of the type described in subsection (f)(1) of this section, upon request of the Director: a. The person who placed such objects upon the premises; and b. The occupant of the premises, if the objects are in or on a part of the premises which the occupant occupies or controls; and c. The owner of the premises if the owner leased the part of the premises containing such objects with such objects upon the premises, or the objects are in or on a part of the premises which is vacant or occupied by the owner, or the objects are upon a part of the premises which the owner maintains or controls even though the premises are occupied by another. (3) When there is evidence of rats in and around useful materials, such as firewood, lumber, or building material, indicating the presence of a rat harborage, and the Director requests, the owner of such useful material shall store them at least 15 inches above ground. If the owner of such useful materials cannot be found after inquiry, the Director may treat them as abandoned property and either sell the useful materials at public auction and pay the net proceeds of the sale into the general fund of the City, or send the useful materials to a designated landfill for disposal, or give the useful materials to any governmentally owned agency located in the City for use by that agency. (g) Rat-Proofing. (1) The owner of any building shall be responsible to rat-proof that building when evidence of rats exist in, under, or around said building, and the Director cites to the owner or to the owner’s rental agent for the building, such evidence and also requests that the owner rat-proof the building. Nothing contained in the foregoing sentence shall bar any right of action the owner of the building may have against the lessee for breach of the lease, but the owner may not plead the terms of any such lease in bar of the owner’s responsibility set forth in the foregoing sentence. Methods and materials used for rat-proofing shall be sufficient to stop the ingress of rats into buildings from the exterior and from one building to another. (2) All buildings shall be maintained free of rats and in a rat-free condition. It shall be the responsibility of each and every occupant of a building to maintain that portion of the building which he or she occupies or controls, free of rats and in a rat-free condition. It shall be the responsibility of the owner of a building to maintain free of rats and in rat-free condition the unoccupied parts of his or her building and the parts of such building over which a nonowner occupant does not exert control. (h) Failure to Restore Rat-Proofing Materials – New Openings to Be Sealed. No person shall remove rat-proofing from any building for any purpose and fail immediately thereafter to restore the same in a rat-proof condition or to make any new openings that are not immediately thereafter closed or sealed against the entrance of rats. (i) Street Opening, Demolition, or Moving Buildings. (1) No permit shall be issued for any street opening work, and no building permit shall issue for any new construction, demolition, moving of a structure, for any work in which the displacement of earth requires a building permit, or for any renovation of a building that has been vacant for three or more months until the applicant provides evidence that the construction site area, including buildings or premises thereon, have been treated for, or are free from, insects and rodents in accordance with State Sanitary Code, 105 CMR, Section 410.550; except at the discretion of the Health Agent. (2) The Department of Public Works shall be responsible for enforcing baiting procedures relative to street opening permits. (3) The applicant shall be held responsible for corrective measure should his/her digging, construction, renovations, or conversions 10 days after the completion of, or at the discretion of the health agent, any construction in accordance with this section. (j) Sewers. (1) The owner or person responsible for the maintenance of a sewer system or any portion thereof shall maintain to the greatest extent possible said system in a rat-tight, rat-free condition at all times. Whenever the owner or responsible person is notified by the Director that there is evidence of rat infestation in the sewer, that person shall institute rat eradication measures immediately and shall maintain the eradication measures in a satisfactory manner until the sewers are rat free. (2) New sewer lines must be constructed and all existing ones maintained in such a manner as to prevent the exit of rats from sewers. (3) Whenever the owner or responsible person is notified by the Director that there is evidence of rats burrowing or otherwise exiting from the sewer system, that person shall institute with reasonable dispatch the necessary repairs to the said sewer line to prevent the exit of rats. (k) Right of Entry – Inspection. (1) The Director shall have the right of entry upon any premises where entry is necessary to carry out the provisions of this section. (2) If consent for entry is not obtained, an administrative search and inspection warrant shall be obtained pursuant to the M.G.L. However, if an imminent hazard exists, no warrant is required for entry upon the premises. (l) Penalties and Remedies. (1) Any person who violates any provision of this section shall be fined in accordance with the provisions of Section 1-8 . (2) The Director may bring a civil proceeding through the appropriate court to enforce the provisions of this section. (m) Severability. If any provision or clause of this section shall be declared invalid, such declaration shall not invalidate any other provision or clause of this section. (n) Effective Date. These regulations shall be in full force and effective upon approval by the City Council and subsequent approval by His Honor the Mayor.