ARTICLE I. - in GENERAL City of Del City Housing Ordinance

ARTICLE I. - in GENERAL City of Del City Housing Ordinance

ARTICLE I. - IN GENERAL City of Del City Housing Ordinance

Sec. 9-1. - Title.

This chapter shall be known as the "Housing Code of the City of Del City" and may be cited as such.

(Code 1973, § 15-1)

Sec. 9-2. - Definitions and rules of construction.

Whenever the term "dwelling," "dwelling unit," "rooming house," "rooming unit," "mobile home," "mobile home park" or "premises" is used in this chapter, it shall be construed as though it were followed by the words "or any part thereof." Unless clearly indicated to the contrary, the following words and phrases shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section:

Approved: Approved by the health officer charged with the responsibility for administering this chapter.

Available: A water, sewer or electrical system shall be deemed "available" when a suitable connection to the system lies within two hundred fifty (250) feet of the premises to be served, except as otherwise provided by resolution of the Del City Municipal Services Authority.

Basement: A portion of a building located partly underground but having less than one-half of its clear floor-to-ceiling height below the average grade of the adjoining ground.

Board or board of appeals: The housing board of appeals created by this chapter.

Boarding house: A rooming house which provides meals for occupants in a common dining room.

Cellar: A portion of a building located partly or wholly underground and having one-half or more than one-half of its clear floor-to-ceiling height below the average grade of the adjoining ground.

Dwelling: Any building or structure or any part thereof which is used or intended to be used for living or sleeping by human occupants. Mobile or transportable temporary housing as hereinafter defined shall not be regarded as a dwelling.

Dwelling unit: 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: The control or elimination of insects, rodents or other pests by elimination of their harboring places; by removing or making inaccessible material that may serve as their food; by poisoning, spraying, fumigating, trapping or blocking their access to a dwelling; or by any other recognized and legal pest elimination methods approved by the health officer.

Garbage: The animal, vegetable or other organic waste resulting from the handling, preparation, cooking and consumption of food.

Habitable floor area: The square footage in a habitable room which shall be used in computing maximum permissible occupancy. At least one-half of the habitable floor area shall have a height of at least seven (7) feet, and the floor area of that part of any room where the ceiling height is less than five (5) feet shall not be considered in computing habitable floor area.

Habitable room: 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, pantries, foyers or communicating corridors, closets and storage spaces.

Habitation: A dwelling, dwelling unit, rooming house, rooming unit, mobile home and premises or any part thereof.

Health hazard: A thing or condition that could or would provide a possible source of peril, danger, duress, or difficulty to a person's health, well-being and equanimity.

Infestation: The presence, within or around a dwelling or anywhere on the premises, of insects, rodents or other pests in such numbers as to constitute a hazard to health.

Mobile home: A movable living unit equipped with a chassis and provided with the following mechanical systems and equipment: Plumbing, heating, electrical, cooking and refrigeration.

Mobile home park: A parcel of land which has been planned and improved for the placement of one (1) or more mobile homes.

Mobile or transportable temporary housing: Any tent, trailer, travel trailer, vacation trailer or structure, other than a mobile home, used for human shelter which is designed to be primarily transportable and which is not attached to the ground or another structure or to any utilities systems on the same premises for more than thirty (30) consecutive days.

Mobile trailer, travel trailer, vacation trailer: A movable living unit, equipped with a chassis but lacking any of the following systems and equipment: Plumbing, heating, electrical, cooking and refrigeration; or containing any or all of the systems and equipment herein listed but containing less than one hundred fifty (150) square feet of habitable floor area. Such units shall be considered mobile temporary housing.

Multiple-family dwelling: Any dwelling containing more than two (2) dwelling units.

Occupant: Any person living, sleeping, cooking or eating in or having possession or use of a dwelling unit or rooming unit. For the purpose of this definition, a person under one (1) year of age shall not be counted as an occupant.

Operator: Any person who has charge, care or control of a building or part thereof in which dwelling units are let.

Owner: Any person who, alone or jointly, or severally with others:

(1)

Shall have legal or equitable title to any dwelling or dwelling unit with or without actual possession thereof; or

(2)

Shall have charge, care or control of any dwelling or dwelling unit as owner or agent of the owner, or as executor, executrix, administrator, administratrix, 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 with rules and regulations adopted pursuant hereto, to the same extent as if he were the owner.

Plumbing: All of the following supplied facilities and equipment: Gas pipes, gas-burning equipment, water pipes, mechanical garbage disposal units, waste pipes, water closets, sinks, installed dishwashers, lavatories, bathtubs, shower baths, installed clothes washing machines, catch basins, drains, vents and other similar supplied fixtures, together with all connections to water, sewer or gas lines.

Public space: Space within a residential building for public use, such as lobbies, lounges, reception halls and meeting, lecture and recreation rooms, and banquet and dining rooms and their kitchens, and swimming pools.

Refuse: All solid waste substances, including both garbage and rubbish.

Rooming house: Any dwelling or part thereof in which a rooming unit is let by the owner or operator to three (3) or more persons who are not related to the owner or operator by blood or marriage; or any dwelling or part thereof containing two (2) or more rooming units.

Rooming unit: Any room or group of rooms in a rooming house or dwelling forming a single habitable unit used or intended for use for living or sleeping but not for cooking or storing food or eating purposes.

Rubbish: All waste substances, other than garbage, including but not limited to the following trash or waste materials: Paper, rags, cartons, boxes, wood, excelsior, rubber, leather, tree branches, yard trimmings, cans, metals, mineral matter, glass crockery, plastics, ceramic material and dust.

Supplied: Paid for, arranged for, furnished or provided by or under the control of the owner or operator.

(Code 1973, § 15-3)

Cross reference— Utilities, Ch. 21; resolutions of Municipal Services Authority, App. A.

State law reference— Pesticides, 2 O.S. § 3-61 et seq.; predatory and rodent control, 2 O.S. § 12-1 et seq.; "manufactured home" and "mobile home" defined, 47 O.S. § 22.1(9).

Sec. 9-3. - Enforcement generally.

The health officer and his authorized representatives are hereby directed to enforce this chapter.

(Code 1973, § 15-15)

Sec. 9-4. - Correction of violations.

(a)

Whenever the health officer determines that there has been a violation of any provision of this chapter, he shall give notice of such violation to the person responsible therefor and order compliance with this chapter. Such notice and order shall:

(1)

Be in writing;

(2)

Include a list of violations referring to the sections violated;

(3)

Order remedial action to be taken which will effect compliance with the provisions violated;

(4)

Specify a reasonable time for performance; and

(5)

Be served on the violator personally, or by certified mail to his last known address. If the violator cannot be located personally and his address is unknown, the notice may be posted in a conspicuous place on the premises or published once each week for two (2) successive weeks in a newspaper published in the city, or if no newspaper is published therein, then in a newspaper of general circulation in the city.

(b)

Where a notice of violation and order to comply has been served pursuant to subsection (a) above, and upon reinspection at the end of the time specified for compliance, if no petition for a hearing has been filed and it is found that the violation continues to exist, the health officer may order the habitation affected by the continued violation vacated in accordance with the following procedure:

(1)

The habitation shall be vacated within a reasonable time, which shall not exceed sixty (60) days.

(2)

The vacated habitation shall have all outer doors firmly locked and the basement, cellar and first-story windows barred or boarded to prevent injury.

(3)

If the habitation is not vacated within the time specified in a vacation order, the health officer may seek an order in a court of competent jurisdiction to require compliance with the order.

(4)

The vacated habitation shall not again be used for human occupancy until the violation has been corrected and an occupancy permit has been issued by the health officer.

(5)

Penalty for failure to vacate the condemned premises. It shall be an offense against the city to inhabit a structure that has been condemned as uninhabitable by the health officer, and any violator of said order shall be deemed guilty of an offense punishable by a fine or deferral fee in lieu of a fine of seven hundred fifty dollars ($750.00) and costs and/or imprisonment of not more than sixty (60) days and costs.

(Code 1973, § 15-17; Ord. No. 1033, § 1, 8-19-96; Ord. No. 1145, § 1, 11-15-99; Ord. No. 1279, § 1(Exh. A), 6-6-05)

State law reference— Violation of health orders, 63 O.S. § 1-1701; violation of rules approved by local boards, 63 O.S. § 1-213.

Sec. 9-5. - Injunctive relief for violations.

In order to carry out the purposes of this chapter, and in addition to any other penalty imposed for a violation hereof, any violation of this chapter is hereby declared a public nuisance and the city attorney, upon direction of the council, shall apply to a court of competent jurisdiction to enjoin a continuation of any such nuisance. In addition, an injunction or other appropriate order may be sought in a court of competent jurisdiction if, in the opinion of the city attorney, the imposition of the penalty provided in section 1-6 of this Code would not provide adequate enforcement of this chapter.

(Code 1973, § 15-19)

State law reference— Nuisances, 11 O.S. § 22-121 and 50 O.S.; territorial jurisdiction as to nuisances, 50 O.S. § 16; public nuisance as misdemeanor, 21 O.S. § 1191; injunction to enjoin and suppress nuisances, 12 O.S. § 1397.

Sec. 9-6. - Purpose; scope.

(a)

The purpose of this chapter is to promote the public health, safety and general welfare of the inhabitants of the city by establishing basic and uniform standards governing the occupancy, condition and maintenance of residential premises. These regulations are required to insure that buildings where people are housed shall be safe, sanitary and of adequate size and suitability for human habitation. The minimum standards herein set forth are provided to arrest the spread of and eliminate residential blight that is caused by dwellings which are so dilapidated, unsafe, dangerous, unhygienic or unsanitary as to constitute a menace to public health and safety.

(b)

This chapter has performance objectives which are implemented by specific minimum standards and requirements governing the occupancy and maintenance of dwellings, rooming houses, mobile homes and other residential premises and governing supplied utilities and facilities.

(c)

Administrative provisions have been established by this chapter to insure compliance with the requirements herein set forth. These include the authorization for the inspection of dwellings, the rehabilitation of dwellings and the vacation and removal of dwellings which are not suitable for human habitation.

(Code 1973, § 15-2)

Sec. 9-7. - Inspections; right of entry.

(a)

The health officer is authorized and directed to make inspections, and for such purposes is authorized to enter, examine and survey, at any reasonable hour and with the occupant's consent, to determine the condition of dwellings, dwelling units, rooming houses, rooming units, mobile homes and premises, located within the city, in order that he may perform his duty of enforcing this chapter and safeguarding the health and safety of the occupants of the habitation and of the general public.

(b)

If it becomes necessary for the health officer or any other authorized city official to enter any dwelling, rooming house, rooming unit or mobile home to carry out any of the requirements of this chapter, and the occupant refuses to give consent to such health officer or other designated city official, such official shall seek a warrant from a court of competent jurisdiction to enter the dwelling, rooming house, rooming unit or mobile home or other premises of any sort contemplated by and covered by the provisions of this chapter.

(Code 1973, § 15-16)

Sec. 9-8. - Hotels.

Every provision of this chapter which applies to rooming houses shall also apply to hotels, except to the extent that any such provision may be found in conflict with the laws of this state or with the lawful regulations of any state board or agency.

(Code 1973, § 15-4)

State law reference— Bailments, 15 O.S. § 441 et seq.; hotels, 63 O.S. § 1-1201.

Sec. 9-9. - Certificates of occupancy.

No habitation shall be occupied as such until a certificate of occupancy is obtained from the health officer, upon his finding that the habitation is in compliance with the provisions of this chapter. If the health officer determines that there is a violation of this chapter, he shall cancel the certificate of occupancy and proceed with the enforcement of this chapter.

(Code 1973, § 15-5)

Sec. 9-10. - Occupancy of nonconforming dwelling.

No person shall occupy as owner-occupant, or permit a member of his family to occupy, or let to another for occupancy, any dwelling or dwelling unit which does not comply with the requirements set forth in this chapter.

(Code 1973, § 15-6)

Sec. 9-11. - Use of temporary housing.

No temporary housing shall be used without the written permission of the health officer.

(Code 1973, § 15-7)

Sec. 9-12. - Basement or cellar as habitable area.

No basement or cellar space shall be used as a habitable room or dwelling unit unless:

(1)

The floor and walls are impervious to leakage of underground and surface runoff water and are insulated against dampness;

(2)

The total window area in each room is equal to at least the minimum window area sizes as required in section 9-76; and

(3)

The total area of window which can be opened in each room is equal to at least the minimum as required under section 9-76, except where there is supplied some other device affording adequate approved ventilation.

(Code 1973, § 15-8)

Sec. 9-13. - Septic tanks.

Where both city water supply and sanitary sewer are available, no septic tank shall be installed to serve any dwelling or dwelling unit. When a sanitary sewer is not available a septic tank may be installed which is in compliance with the rules and regulations of the state board of health and the standards and regulations governing septic tank construction of the city.

(Code 1973, § 15-9)

Cross reference— Sewers, § 21-41 et seq.

State law reference— State rules on private sewage disposal, 27A O.S. § 2-6-303; compliance with state requirements, 27A O.S. § 2-6-403.

Sec. 9-14. - Vacant units to be clean and sanitary.

No owner shall occupy or let to any other occupant any vacant dwelling unit unless it is clean and in a sanitary condition.

(Code 1973, § 15-10)

Sec. 9-15. - Responsibility for maintenance.

(a)

Every owner of a dwelling containing three (3) or more dwelling units shall be responsible for maintaining in a clean and sanitary condition the shared or public areas of the dwelling and the premises thereof.

(b)

Every occupant of a dwelling or dwelling unit shall be responsible for maintaining in a clean and sanitary condition that part of the dwelling, dwelling unit and premises thereof which he occupies and controls.

(Code 1973, § 15-11)

Sec. 9-16. - Responsibility for extermination of pests.

(a)

The owner is responsible for extermination of any insects, rodents or other pests, when such infestation exists, in the following cases:

(1)

In any dwelling containing one (1) or more units when infestation is due to the failure of the owner to keep the dwelling or dwelling units in an insectproof, rodentproof or pestproof condition;

(2)

In any dwelling, whenever infestation exists in two (2) or more of the dwelling units;

(3)

In the shared or public parts of any dwelling containing two (2) or more dwelling units.

(b)

The occupant is responsible for extermination of any insects, rodents or other pests, when such infestation exists, in the following cases:

(1)

Every occupant of a dwelling unit, in a dwelling containing one (1) or more dwelling units, shall be responsible when his dwelling unit is the only one infested.

(2)

Every occupant of a dwelling containing only one (1) dwelling unit shall be responsible for extermination if the owner of the dwelling has kept it in an insectproof, rodentproof or pestproof condition.

(Code 1973, § 15-12)

Sec. 9-17. - Owner's access to premises.

Every occupant of a dwelling, dwelling unit or rooming unit shall give the owner thereof, or his agent or employee, access to any part of such dwelling, dwelling unit, rooming unit or its premises at any reasonable hour for the purpose of making such repairs or alterations as are necessary to effect compliance with the provisions of this chapter or any lawful order issued pursuant to the provisions of this chapter.