Article III. Housing Code 1
Sec. 9-31. Adopted
This article shall be known as a housing code of the town. No person shall, within the town, occupy as owner-occupant and no person shall rent, lease or let to another for occupancy any dwelling or dwelling unit which does not comply with the requirements of this article, except that the owner of any existing dwelling or dwelling unit which does not conform to the requirements of this article shall have a reasonable time within which to remedy such nonconformance.
Sec. 9-32
Maintenance of buildings, dwellings and dwelling units. (a) Foundations, floors, walls, ceilings, and roofs of dwellings or dwelling units within the town, shall be reasonably weathertight, watertight, and rodentproof, shall provide reasonable privacy for the occupants thereof, and shall be maintained in reasonable repair. Rainwater shall drain from roofs so as not to cause dampness in walls, ceilings, or floors of any habitable room, bathroom or water closet compartment. (b) Windows, exterior doors, ventilators, skylights, and hatchways shall be reasonably weathertight, watertight, and rodentproof, and shall be maintained in reasonable repair. (c) Inside and outside stairs, porches, and all appurtenances thereto shall be maintained in sound condition, and each dwelling unit shall have safe unobstructed means of egress leading to open space at ground level. (d) All required utilities, facilities and equipment, including plumbing fixtures, chimneys and flues, and piping, and heating and lighting systems and equipment, shall be so installed and maintained as to function in a safe, sanitary, and effective manner, and they shall not be removed or shut off or discontinued except temporarily or for repairs or after approval by the director of health. (2) The minimum aggregate glass area of windows as required is located entirely above the grade of the ground adjoining such window area.
Sec. 9-35
Heating and lighting of rented or leased buildings. When any building or part thereof is rented or leased and occupied as a home or place of residence (or as an office or place of business, either mercantile or otherwise) a temperature of less than seventy (70) degrees Fahrenheit in such building or part thereof occupied shall, for the purpose of this section, he deemed injurious to the health of the occupants thereof.
Sec. 9-36
Sanitation of rented or leased buildings. (a) As used in this section, "rented or leased buildings" shall mean any structure or part thereof, which is rented, leased, let out or to be occupied as a home or place of residence (or as an office or place of business, either mercantile or otherwise). (b) When any defect in the plumbing, sewerage, water supply, drainage, lighting, ventilation, or sanitary condition of a rented or leased building, or of the premises on which it is situated, in the opinion of the director of health, constitutes a danger to life or health, the director of health or his designated assistant shall order the responsible party to correct the same in such manner as he specifies. (c) When the director of health certifies that such rented or leased dwelling or premises are unfit for human habitation, by reason of defects which may cause sickness or endanger the health of the occupants, he shall issue an order requiring the rented dwelling, premises, or any portion thereof to be vacated within not less than twenty-four (24) hours or more than ten (10) days.
Sec. 9-37
Abatement of nuisances or hazardous health conditions. The director of health shall examine and investigate into all nuisances and hazardous health conditions injurious to the pub- window area available for unobstructed ventilation, unless other approved means of ventilation are provided. Bathrooms and water closet compartments shall conform to the above unless other means of lighting are approved. Ventilating portions of windows, and exterior doors, shall have insect screens and screen doors installed during the warm months of the year; (7) Each habitable room in a dwelling unit, and all public areas, common hallways and stairways in buildings with more than one dwelling unit, shall be adequately lighted with electric service and fixtures to provide one lumen at floor or stair tread level. Every habitable room shall have service and outlets to provide at least three (3) watts per square foot of floor area, with at least one (1) wall type convenience outlet for each sixty (60) feet or fraction thereof of floor area, and in no case less than two (2) outlets per room. Each water closet compartment, bathroom, laundry room, furnace room, and public hall shall have one supplied wall or ceiling type electric light fixture.
Sec. 9-34
Minimum standards for occupancy. (a) Every dwelling unit shall contain at least one hundred fifty (150) square feet of floor space for the first occupant thereof and at least one hundred (100) additional square feet of floor space for every additional occupant thereof, the floor space to be calculated on the basis of the total habitable room area. b) Every room occupied for sleeping purposes by one occupant shall contain not less than seventy (70) square feet of usable floor area and each room occupied for sleeping purposes by more than one occupant shall contain not less than fifty (50) additional square feet of usable floor area for each permanent additional occupant thereof. (c) No portion of a building, the floor level of which is below grade, shall be used as a dwelling or dwelling unit unless, in addition to the other provisions of this article: (d) The floor and walls are impervious to leakage of underground and surface runoff water and insulated against dampness; and provisions of this article. If violations of this article are found to exist, the director of health or his agent or assistant who conducted the inspection shall give notice of such alleged violations to the person or persons responsible therefore. Such notice shall be in writing; include a statement of the reason why it is being issued; and allow a reasonable time for the performance of any act it requires.
Sec. 9-39
Housing code enforcement committee; created, powers. (a) There is hereby created a housing code enforcement committee which shall consist of the first selectman who shall serve as chairman, and two (2) other electors of the town who shall he appointed by the board of selectmen and who shall serve for terms of two (2) years from the date of their appointment and until their successors have been appointed and have qualified. (b) Any person aggrieved by any act, order or notice of the director of health in enforcing compliance with the provisions of this article may appeal to the code enforcement committee. The housing code enforcement committee, by a majority vote, shall sustain, modify or withdraw the order or notice, or may grant an extension or variance in accordance with the following conditions: (1) The time for performance of any act required by the order or notice may be extended for not more than eighteen (18) months subject to appropriate conditions and based on evidence relating to the particular case: a. That there are practical difficulties or unnecessary hardships in the way of carrying out the strict letter of any provisions of this article; b. That such extension is in harmony with the general purpose and intent of this article in securing the public health, safety and general welfare. (2) A variance may be granted in a specific case and from a specific provision of this article subject to appropriate conditions and where the housing code enforcement committee makes specific findings of fact based on evidence related to the particular case: including the public health, cause such nuisances and hazardous health conditions to be abated and cause to be removed all such nuisances and hazardous health conditions which, in his judgment, may endanger the health of the inhabitants of the town, and all expenses for the abatement or removal of such nuisance or hazardous health condition shall be paid by the person who caused or permitted such nuisance or condition. When any such nuisance or hazardous health condition is found on private property, the director of health shall notify the owner or occupant of such property to remove or abate the same at his expense, within such time as the director of health directs. The director of health may enter all places within his jurisdiction where there is just cause to suspect any nuisance or hazardous health condition to exist.
Sec. 9-38
Administration and enforcement. The director of health shall administer the housing code and shall be empowered to designate such number of agents or assistants as he may reasonably require to assist him in the enforcement of this article. In order that he may effectively safeguard the health and safety of the occupants of dwellings and of the general public, the director of health, or his designated agent or assistant, is hereby authorized to make inspections to determine the condition of dwellings, dwelling units, rooming units, and premises located within the town. For the purpose of making inspections, the director of health, or his designated agent or assistant, may enter, examine and survey, at all reasonable times, any dwelling, dwelling unit, or premises within the town. The owner or occupant of every dwelling, dwelling unit, or rooming unit, or the person in charge thereof shall give the director of public health, or his designated agent or assistant, free access to such dwelling, dwelling unit or rooming unit and its premises, at all reasonable times, for the purpose of such inspection, examination, and survey. Each occupant of a dwelling or dwelling unit shall give the owner thereof, or his agent or employee, access to any part of such dwelling or dwelling unit or its premises, at all reasonable times, for the purpose of making such repairs or alterations as are necessary to effect compliance with the provisions of this article, or any lawful order issued pursuant to the article may be fined in accordance with section 1-11. Each day's neglect or refusal to comply with an order of the director of health or of the code enforcement committee shall constitute a separate offense.