Chapter 16.10
DEFINITIONS
Sections:
16.10.010 Definitions.
For purposes of this chapter, the following terms shall have the definitions provided below; provided, however, where terms are not defined in this chapter, they shall have the meanings ascribed to them in other chapters of the Huachuca City Municipal Code, including but not limited to the International Building Code, International Residential Code, International Fire Code, International Plumbing Code, International Mechanical Code, National Electrical Code or NFPA 70. Words not defined shall be given their normal, ordinary meaning.
Abandoned Property. The word “abandoned” is hereby defined as voluntarily relinquished by the owner for an apparently indefinite period of time. As applied to motor vehicles or other articles of property, the term includes, but is not limited to, any motor vehicle or other article of personal property which is left upon the public or private property without the consent of the public entity, owner, lessee, or occupant thereof for longer than four hours.
Abandoned Structure. An “abandoned structure” is hereby defined as any structure that is in a partially dismantled state, and which remains uninhabitable for more than 12 consecutive months and there is no active building permit for work to the structure; or which remains uninhabitable for more than 30 months, even if there is an active building permit for work to the structure; and one of the following conditions exists:
1. The structure’s roof or any part thereof is missing; or
2. Any outside wall of the structure or portion thereof is missing, including any windows that are missing, or the structure is not dried-in.
“Abate” means to correct, including, but not limited to, repair, clear, rehabilitate, demolish, or remove.
“Abatement warrant” means an order, in writing, signed by a judge of a court of competent jurisdiction, authorizing any employee, authorized agent, representative or contractor of the town to enter onto any affected property to abate specified conditions.
“Acceptable indoor air quality” means air in which there are no known contaminants at harmful concentrations.
“Accessory improvements” means improvements to land other than buildings, including, but not limited to, driveways, parking areas, pools, bridges, monuments, signs, sidewalks, walkways, exterior steps, railings, fences, screening walls, and retaining walls.
“Accessory use areas” means those areas and buildings around a dwelling which provide space for amenities and facilities, including but not limited to pay phones, picnic areas, recreation areas, laundry rooms, recreation rooms and refuse collection facilities.
“Addition” means an extension or increase to floor area or height of a building or structure.
“Agent” means a person residing or located within Arizona authorized by the owner of a property to make or order repairs or service to the property, building or structure and authorized to receive notices on behalf of the owner.
“Aggregate material” means any rock fragments, pebbles, sand, gravel, cobbles, crushed base, asphalt, dirt or similar material.
Air Pollution. No emission shall be permitted which can cause damage to health, animals, vegetation, or other forms of property, or which can cause any excessive soiling.
“Alter” or “alteration” means any change in construction or a change in occupancy. Where the term “alteration” is applied to a change of construction, it is intended to apply to any change, addition, or modification in construction. When the term is used in connection with a change of occupancy, it is intended to apply to changes of occupancy from one trade or use to another.
“Attractive nuisance” means the maintaining of a condition, instrumentality, machine, or other agency that is dangerous to young children because of a child’s ability to appreciate peril and which may be reasonably expected to attract them.
“Bathroom” means a room containing plumbing fixtures, including a bathtub or shower.
“Bedroom” means any room or space used or intended to be used for sleeping purposes in either a dwelling or sleeping unit.
“Blight” or “blighted” means unsightly, unsafe, or unsanitary conditions including, but not limited to, the accumulation of litter or debris; fences, buildings or other structures characterized by holes, breaks, rot, crumbling, cracking, peeling, or rusting; landscaping that is dead or damaged, characterized by bare dirt areas, uncontrolled growth or lack of maintenance, or is damaged; any other similar conditions of neglect, disrepair or deterioration; the exterior visible use or display of tarps, plastic sheeting or other similar materials as flexible or inflexible screening, fencing or walls covering upon a residential lot; excessive use, decay, degeneration, infestation, disrepair and deterioration that contribute to the depreciation of neighborhood property values or affect the health, safety, economic, aesthetic, or general welfare of citizens, regardless of the condition of other properties in the neighborhood.
“Building” means any structure, either temporary or permanent, having a roof, supported by columns or walls, and used or built for the shelter or enclosure of persons, animals, chattels, or property of any kind. This shall include tents, awnings, or vehicles situated on private property and used for the purposes of building.
“Building code” means the code adopted by this jurisdiction regulating the design and construction of buildings and structures.
“Building official” means the officer or other person designated and authorized by the city manager to enforce and administer the town adopted building codes; or the building official’s authorized representative.
“Closed container” means a container designed for transporting loose material such as garbage, refuse, or aggregate material with sides, top, and bottom made of solid and durable material such as metal or plastic, which will resist normal wear and tear and without any holes, cracks, or openings through which materials contained therein may escape, regardless of the degree to which the container is filled.
“Code official” means the official(s) designated and authorized by the city manager to enforce and administer the provisions of this title; or any duly authorized representative or designee of that official. “Code official” includes any peace officer, fire code official (fire-related issues only), building official or code enforcement officer.
“Commercial property” means any property occupied by a business or businesses which sell, rent, trade or store goods, or which provide a service.
“Compliance order” means an order notifying the recipient that he or she is subject to civil or criminal prosecution for a violation of this chapter unless the violation is corrected.
“Contiguous” means relating to property or residences, property that shares or abuts the boundary line or edge of the immediately adjacent property.
“Debris” means substance or junk of little or no apparent economic value, which may be present in accumulation in excess of six inches in height and 10 inches in diameter, including but not limited to deteriorated lumber, old newspapers, furniture, furniture parts, stoves, sinks, cabinets, household fixtures, refrigerators, car parts, equipment that is abandoned, broken or neglected, or the scattered remains of items.
“Default” means, with respect to a mortgage, that the obligor under the mortgage has breached or is in default of a repayment or other obligation in connection with that mortgage and has been notified by the mortgagee.
“Designee” means a person authorized in writing by the city manager to carry out specific actions to enforce this chapter.
“Deteriorated” or “deterioration” means a lowering in quality in the condition or appearance of a building, structure, or premises, characterized by holes, breaks, rot, crumbling, cracking, peeling, rusting, vermin infestation, unsafe or unsanitary conditions, or any other evidence of physical decay, neglect, damage or lack of maintenance.
“Dilapidated” means a condition relating to a structure and consisting of multiple violations of the town code, such that the structure is in an obvious and serious state of disrepair.
“Driveway” means a private way that provides access from a street to a building such as a house or garage.
“Dumping ground” means any area that is used for the storing, leaving, or abandoning of refuse, litter, garbage, waste, earth, rock or debris, including construction, agricultural, landscape, residential, commercial and industrial solid waste.
“Dwelling unit” means an enclosed space of one or more rooms that is designed, occupied, or intended for occupancy as living quarters exclusively for a single household, to include permanent provisions for living, sleeping, sanitation, and kitchen facilities.
“Excavation” means any well, shaft, basement, pit, tunnel, trench, hole or other like or similar removal of earth material.
“Exterior surface” means building exterior surfaces and attachments to buildings, including, but not limited to, walls, roofs, doors, windows, gutters, downspouts, antennas, fixtures, satellite dishes, porches, garages, patios, and chimneys.
“Fences,” “screen walls” and/or “retaining walls” means self-standing structures designed to provide semi-privacy, security or bank retention between grade separation.
“Garbage” means swill, offal and any accumulation of spoiled or fully decomposed, rotting or discarded animal, vegetable or other matter resulting from the handling, preparation, cooking, storage, or consumption of plant and animal matter, including meats, fowl, buds, fruits, vegetables, dairy products or other organic waste material subject to rapid decomposition and their waste wrappers or containers.
“Graffiti” means any unauthorized inscription, figure, slogans, designs, drawings or other defacement that is written, marked, painted, carved, scratched, etched, sketched, or otherwise affixed to any exterior building surface, unscreened area, accessory improvement, or vehicle in a place which can be seen by the public and that degrades the beauty and appearance of property.
“Guard” means a building component or a system of building components located at or near the open sides of elevated walking surfaces that minimizes the possibility of a fall from the walking surface to a lower level.
“Habitable space” means a space in a structure for living, sleeping, eating or cooking. Bathrooms, toilet compartments, closets, halls, screen enclosures, sunrooms, storage or utility space and similar areas are not considered habitable space.
“Health hazard” means the presence of any item(s) or condition(s) that adversely impact or jeopardize the well-being or health of an individual. Such items or conditions include, but are not limited to, evidence of occupancy without adequate water and sanitation facilities, or may be inclusive of human or animal waste, medical or biological waste, sharp, gaseous or combustible materials, radioactive waste, dangerous or corrosive chemicals or liquids, flammable or explosive materials, friable asbestos, offal and decay matter.
“Housekeeping unit” means a room or group of rooms forming a single habitable space equipped and intended to be used for living, cooking, sleeping and eating which does not contain, within such a unit, a toilet, lavatory and bathtub or shower.
“Imminent danger or hazard” means a condition of real property that places a person’s life, health, or property in high risk of peril when such condition is immediate, impending, on the point of happening and menacing.
“Impervious” means incapable of being penetrated or affected by water or moisture.
“Industrial property” means any property occupied by land uses whose primary operation involves manufacturing, assembling, processing or otherwise treating raw materials, semi-finished products, or finished products for packaging and distribution to either wholesale or retail markets.
“Infestation” means the presence or apparent presence of insects, rodents, birds, animals, vermin or other noxious pests of a kind or in a quantity that may cause structural damage to a building or structure, or endangers health within or around a building or structure, or may have an adverse effect upon the health, safety, aesthetics, or general welfare of citizens.
Inoperable Vehicle. For the purposes of this title, the definition of “inoperable vehicle” shall be the same as the definition located in Section 9.30.010.
“Inspection warrant” means an order, in writing, signed by a judge of a court of competent jurisdiction, directed to a state, county or local official, authorizing entry into private property to inspect for violations of this town code or other relevant laws and requirements.
“Labeled” means devices, equipment, appliances, or materials to which have been affixed a label, seal, symbol or other identifying mark of a nationally recognized testing laboratory, inspection agency or other organization concerned with product evaluation that maintains periodic inspection of the production of the above-labeled items and by whose label the manufacturer attests to compliance with applicable nationally recognized standards.
“Land” means all land in the town, whether improved or unimproved.
“Landscape debris” means material generated or accumulated as a result of, or moved in the course of, landscape operations. “Landscape debris” includes, but is not limited to, grass clippings, leaves, branches, vegetative matter, rubbish, soil and rock.
“Leaf blower” means any device that generates a stream of air that is designed, or used, to move landscape debris.
“Litter” means all decaying or nondecaying solid wastes, including but not limited to both combustible and noncombustible wastes, such as ashes, street cleanings, garbage, rubbish, dead animals, abandoned or junked vehicles or parts thereof, solid market and industrial waste, discarded appliances, discarded furniture, wood, paper, rags, empty barrels, crates, packing cases, excelsior, packing material, wrappings, cigarettes, cardboard, cans, metal, mattresses, bedding, crockery, trash, boxes, bottles, glass, cartons, refuse, debris, plaster, plastic, asphalt, tile, rock, bricks, concrete dribble, yard clippings, dry vegetation, weeds, dead trees and branches, leaves, vegetation and trees which may harbor insect or rodent infestations or may become a fire hazard, piles of earth mixed with any of the above or any foreign objects or other materials tending to create an unsightly condition and having an adverse effect upon the health, safety, economic, aesthetic, or general welfare of adjoining properties or occupants thereof.
“Manufactured home” means a structure built in accordance with the National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974 and Title VI of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 and any subsequent amendments.
Minor Vehicle Repair. Brake part replacement, minor tune-ups, change of oil and filter, repair of flat tires, lubrication and other similar operations are considered minor vehicle repairs. It does not include any removal or rebuilding of engines, repair or removal of differentials or axles, body or painting work of vehicles or vehicle parts or any vehicle repair that causes a vehicle to be inoperable for a period in excess of 24 hours.
“Mobile home” means a structure built before June 15, 1976, on a permanent chassis, capable of being transported in one or more sections and designed to be used with or without a permanent foundation as a dwelling when connected to on-site utilities. Does not include recreational vehicles and factory-built buildings.
“Mortgage” means a first mortgage or other first-priority security interest in real property that is placed as security for the repayment of a loan and includes a first deed of trust.
“Mortgagee” means any person or firm who holds a first-priority mortgage or other first-priority security interest in real property to secure a loan, whether as the mortgagee of a mortgage or the beneficiary of a deed of trust.
“Notice of default event” means, with respect to a mortgage, a default regarding that mortgage has occurred and either: (1) a notice of breach or notice of default and election to sell has been provided to the obligor and has been recorded in the Cochise County Recorder’s Office; or (2) an action for judicial foreclosure has been commenced regarding that mortgage by the filing of a complaint or petition for foreclosure in a court of competent jurisdiction.
“Notice of violation (NOV)” means a notice issued to a property owner or responsible person concerning violations of this title.
“Noxious weed” means any species of plant which is, or is liable to be, detrimental or destructive and difficult to control or eradicate and shall include any species that the Arizona Department of Agriculture, after investigation and hearing, determines to be a noxious weed.
“Nuisance” means any person doing an unlawful act, or omitting to perform a duty, or suffering or permitting any condition or thing to be or exist, which act, omission, condition or thing either:
1. Injures or endangers the comfort, repose, health or safety of others;
2. Unlawfully interferes with, obstructs or tends to obstruct or renders dangerous for passage any public or private street, highway, sidewalk, stream, ditch or drainage;
3. In any way renders other persons insecure in life or the use of property; or
4. Essentially interferes with the comfortable enjoyment of life and property or tends to depreciate the value of the property of others.
“Occupancy” means the purpose for which a building, or part thereof, is used or intended to be used.
“Occupant” means an individual or individuals or legal entity, through rights of ownership or tenancy, has possession or use and enjoyment of the subject real property and premises. Any person, permittee, licensee, or franchisee that places or maintains facilities in the city streets and public ways.
“Off-road vehicle” means a recreational vehicle designed for off-road use and not required to be licensed, including without limitation all-terrain vehicles, motocross cycles, sand rails and dune buggies.
“Openable area” means that part of a window, skylight or door which is available for unobstructed ventilation and which opens directly to the outdoors.
“Operator” means any person who has charge, care or control of a structure or premises which is let or offered for occupancy.
“Owner” means a person, persons or legal entity listed as the current titleholder of real property, as recorded in the official records of the Cochise County Recorder’s office.
“Owner’s agent” means a statutory agent designated pursuant to ARS Section 33-1902.
“Person” means any individual, firm, partnership, association, social or fraternal organization, corporation, estate, trust, receiver, syndicate, branch of government, or any other group or combination of groups acting as a unit.
“Polluted” means a condition that exists in the water and is characterized by bacterial growth, algae, insect infestation, the remains of litter, debris, garbage, or any other foreign matter which, because of its nature or location, constitutes an unhealthy, unsafe, or unsightly condition.
“Pool” means a constructed or excavated exterior area designed to contain a regular supply of water.
“Premises” means a lot, plot or parcel of land, easement or public way, including any structures thereon.
“Private property” means any real property not owned by the federal government, state, county, city, or political subdivision of the state.
“Property line” means the line that represents the boundary of property (including an apartment, condominium, room or other dwelling unit) owned, leased, or otherwise occupied by a person, business, corporation or institution.
“Public way” means any street, alley or similar parcel of land, essentially unobstructed from the ground to the sky, which is deeded, dedicated or otherwise permanently appropriated to the public for public use.
“Refuse” means solid waste, including garbage.
“Resident” means a person that lives in a residence, or a responsible party.
“Residential property” means a property where the dominant use is nontransient occupancy of residential dwelling units.
“Residential rental property” means property that is used solely as leased or rented property for residential purposes. If the property is a space rental mobile home park or a recreational vehicle park, “residential rental property” includes the rental space that is leased or rented by the owner of that rental space but does not include the mobile home or recreational vehicle that serves as the actual dwelling if the dwelling is owned and occupied by the tenant of the rental space and not by the owner of the rental space.
“Responsible person” means an owner, tenant, renter, lessor, lessee, manager, agent, lien holder or a fiduciary or person with power of attorney or other person who is occupying or having charge, possession or control of the premises or has authority and ability to act on behalf of, or in the interest of, the owner. When property is held in common by more than one owner, each owner is a responsible person, even when a homeowner’s association has been formed to manage and maintain such commonly owned property. Such a homeowner’s association shall also be a responsible person. When any subdivision or planned area development (PAD) has been approved by town council and provisions have been made for the creation of an architectural review committee, homeowner’s association or similar committee which has been created, or will be created, for the purpose of controlling or regulating matters of common concern or maintenance, the developer of said subdivision or PAD shall submit to the town clerk the names, addresses and telephone numbers of the officers of said committee or association at the time the organization is granted autonomy. Until such information is supplied to the town clerk, the developer shall remain a responsible person for the purposes of maintaining all common property in accordance with this section. Once granted autonomy, the chairperson, secretary or principal officer of any committee or association, as described above, shall notify the town clerk of any change in officers and provide the names, addresses and telephone numbers of the new officers within 30 days after the change becomes effective. Until the town clerk receives notice of any new officers, the officers on record shall remain responsible persons as provided herein.
“Rooming house” means a building arranged or occupied for lodging with or without meals, for compensation and not occupied as a one- or two-family dwelling.
“Rooming unit” means any room or group of rooms forming a single habitable unit occupied or intended to be occupied for sleeping or living, but not for cooking purposes.
“Rubble” means broken solid surface fragments, usually resulting from the decay or deterioration of a building; miscellaneous mass of broken or apparently worthless materials.
“Screened area, exterior” means an area separated by a permanent nonflexible device to completely conceal one element of a property from other elements or from adjacent or contiguous property. Examples include but are not limited to fencing six feet in height that is made from solid wood, brick or chain link with opaque slats.
“Sidewalk area” mens that portion of a street between the curblines, or the lateral lines of a roadway, and the adjacent property lines, whether identified on the ground as a pedestrian walkway or not.
“Sleeping unit” means a room or space in which people sleep which can also include permanent provisions for living, eating and either sanitation or kitchen facilities, but not both. Such rooms and spaces that are also part of a dwelling unit are not sleeping units.
“Slum property” means residential rental property that has deteriorated or is in a state of disrepair and that manifests one or more of the following conditions that are a danger to the health or safety of the public:
1. Structurally unsound surfaces, roofs, walls, doors, floors, stairs, stairwells, porches or railings.
2. Lack of potable water, adequate sanitation facilities, adequate water or waste pipe connections.
3. Hazardous electrical system or gas connections.
4. Lack of safe, rapid egress.
5. Accumulation of human or animal waste, medical or biological waste, gaseous or combustible materials, dangerous or corrosive liquids, flammable or explosive materials or drug paraphernalia.
Smoke. No emission of smoke from any source shall be permitted to exceed a greater density than the density described as No. 1 on the Ringleman Chart. However, smoke may be emitted which is equal to but not darker than No. 2 on the Ringleman Chart for not more than four minutes in any eight-hour period. For the purpose of grading the density of smoke, the Ringleman Chart, as published by the U.S. Bureau of Mines, shall be the standard. All measurements shall be taken at the point of emissions of the smoke.
“Stabilization” or “stabilized” means treatment of ground surfaces with asphaltic concrete, cement, concrete, hardscape, penetration treatment of bituminous material and seal coat of bituminous binder and a mineral aggregate, decomposed granite cover, crushed granite cover, aggregate cover, gravel cover, grass or other continuous vegetative cover, or any combination of these stabilizers.
“Store” means parking, leaving, locating, keeping, maintaining, depositing, remaining, or having a physical presence.
“Structure” means a combination of materials to form a construction for use, occupancy, or ornamentation whether installed on, above, or below the surface of land or water.
“Tenant” means a person who rents, leases or subleases, through either a written or oral agreement, real property from another for a fixed time.
“Toilet room” means a room containing a water closet or urinal but not a bathtub or shower.
“Vacant” means, with respect to real property and vacant real property, real property and improvements that are not presently occupied by persons lawfully entitled thereto. The term does not include real property that is unoccupied by reason of the temporary absence of lawful occupants who intend to return and resume occupancy.
“Vacant and unsecured building or structure” means any vacant or abandoned building or structure, regardless of whether or not the building or structure is surrounded in whole or in part by a fence or wall, that is: (1) a fire or health hazard because of the accumulation of weeds, debris, or flammable or combustible waste or refuse; or (2) an attractive nuisance or hazard to the public because unsecured doorways or window openings or holes in the exterior of the building or structure permit entry of unauthorized persons.
“Vacant structure” means any unoccupied or illegally occupied structure.
“Vegetation” means plant growth, whether living or dead, characterized by grass, weeds, bushes, cactus, or trees.
“Vehicle” means every device in, upon, or by which any person or property is or may be transported or drawn upon a highway, including devices used exclusively upon stationary rails or tracts.
“Ventilation” means the natural or mechanical process of supplying conditioned or unconditioned air to or removing such air from any space.
Weeds. In addition to those noxious weeds defined in ARS Section 3-201, weeds include, but are not limited to, bull thistle, cocklebur, foxtail, horseweed, lamb’s quarters, London rocket, mallow, milkweed, pigweed, mustards, prickly lettuce, ragweed, Russian thistle, tumbleweed, shepherd’s purse, sowthistle, white horsenettle, and willow weed, regardless of whether an owner or occupant regards the plant growth as desirable. In addition, any vegetation in excess of 12 inches growing in an uncontrolled manner which will, if not cut or destroyed, become a fire hazard or menace to adjacent property is, for the purpose of this chapter, a weed.
“Yard, front” means the area extending the full lot width and situated between the front property lot line and the face of the principal building, which is parallel to, or most nearly parallel to, the front lot line.
“Yard, rear” means the area extending the full lot width and situated between the rear lot property line and the face of the principal building, which is parallel to, or most nearly parallel to, the rear lot line.
“Yard, side” means the area extending between the front yard and the rear yard and situated between the side lot property line and the face of the principal building, which is parallel to, or most nearly parallel to, the side lot line. (Ord. 19-16 § 2, 2019)