§ 6. Definitions.

Words in this Code used in the present tense include the future tense; the singular includes the plural; and the plural includes the singular. Whenever the words "building", "dwelling", "dwelling unit", "premises", "rooming house" "rooming unit", "boarding house", or "boarding unit" are used in this Code, they shall be construed as though they were followed by the words "or any part thereof."

The following terms used or referred to in this Code shall have the respective meanings:

APPLICABLE PROVISIONS OF THIS CODE shall mean:

Sections 19 through 29 of this Code for a building used or intended for use as a dwelling, vacant dwellings or a building with special uses. Whenever the applicable standard for a building, with special uses set forth in Section 26 conflicts with any standard contained in Sections 20 through 25, the standard specified in Section 26 shall apply.

Abandoned vehicle shall mean any vehicle left unattended in the same location for 30 days or more.

Basement shall mean that portion of a building having less than one half of its clear floor-to-ceiling height below the average grade of the adjoining ground.

Boarded Dwelling shall mean a dwelling which has been made inaccessible by boarding as prescribed in Section 29 of this Code.

Boarding House shall mean any dwelling consisting of one or more rooming units, in which the owner or operator rents space to five to fifteen persons with one or more meals regularly served either as part of the rental or for a separate charge.

Brush shall mean uncultivated woody shrubs or woody grasses such as bamboo not part of a planned, maintained landscape.

Building shall mean an edifice of any kind composed of parts joined together in some form, including, but not limited to garages, sheds, fences, accessory structures and appurtenances.

Building with Special Uses shall mean a rooming house, boarding house, dormitory, emergency shelter, group house, residential care facility or like facility.

Cellar shall mean that portion of a building having more than one-half of its clear floor-to-ceiling height below the average grade of the adjoining ground.

City shall mean the City of Atlanta, Georgia.

Complaint shall mean any expression of concern, protest or dissatisfaction to the Director relating to the implementation or enforcement of this Code which reasonably specifies the suspected violations of this Code and which identifies the complaining party and the specific location of the dwelling suspected to be in violation of this Code.

Complex shall mean three or more buildings sharing common areas and having unified ownership or management.

Conviction shall mean a judgement by the Court, finding a defendant guilty as charged on a particular date, concerning a particular property, of violating either a single or multiple provision(s) of this Code or any previously enacted City of Atlanta Housing Code. When applied to findings of violations of either single or multiple provisions of this Code by corporate entities, conviction shall have no criminal connotation or criminal meaning.

Corporate Entity shall mean a partnership, joint venture, association, corporation, or any other legal entity recognized by the laws of the State of Georgia.

Court shall mean the Municipal Court of Atlanta or other Court of competent jurisdiction.

Director shall mean the director of the bureau of code compliance, their authorized representative, or the commander of the Atlanta Police Department's Code Enforcement Section. Hereinafter, any reference to the director of the bureau of buildings in this chapter shall mean the director of the bureau of code compliance, or the commander of the Atlanta Police Department's Code Enforcement Section.

Dormitory shall mean a dwelling used for institutional living and sleeping purposes by ten (10) or more persons.

Dwelling shall mean any building, along with its appurtenances, used or intended to be used, wholly or in part, for human habitation or for the inhabitants use.

Dwelling Unit shall mean any portion of a building used, intended or designed as a separate abode and used, intended or designed for living, sleeping, cooking and eating therein.

Extermination shall mean the control or eradication of infestation by removing or making inaccessible materials that may serve as food, breeding places or harboring places for pests, vermin or rodents and shall include pest control by poisoning, spraying, trapping, fumigating or any other recognized, legal and effective pest eradication procedure.

Family shall mean persons related by blood, marriage or operation of law.

Fire hazard shall mean vegetation which is dry and combustible, including but not limited to weeds, grass or clippings, dead shrubs, trees or their parts, and other combustible vegetative materials.

Garbage shall mean the animal and vegetable waste resulting from the handling, preparation, cooking and consumption of food.

Grade shall mean the average elevation of the ground adjoining a building.

Habitable Room shall mean an enclosed floor space arranged, used or intended to be used for any combination of living, sleeping or eating purposes. Space devoted exclusively for a bathroom, water closet compartment, kitchen, laundry, pantry, foyer, hallway, closet or storage space shall not in and of itself be considered a habitable room.

Infestation shall mean the presence within or around a dwelling of pests, vermin or rodents in such numbers or with such frequency as may be substantially detrimental to the health, safety or general welfare of the occupants and of the general public thereof.

Junked vehicle shall mean any automobile, truck, van, recreational vehicle, mobile home or trailer of any kind (or parts thereof) not within a completely enclosed structure which has been discarded, dismantled, junked, ruined, scrapped, wrecked in part or whole, abandoned, or which is inoperable or which cannot be legally operated on the public roads or which does not bear a current registration or a current license plate or a current state required inspection sticker.

Lawn shall mean an area of land planted with grasses or other durable plants, which are maintained at a short height and used for aesthetic and recreational purposes.

Naturescape shall mean landscaping and gardening approaches that use predominately native plants for the purpose of creating improved outdoor habitat for native insects, birds, and mammals and reducing the need for chemical pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers, and watering. All nuisance plants are prohibited.

Nuisance Plants Prohibited:

Kudzu (Pueraria Montana var. lobta), Chinese wisteria (Wisteria sinensis )

Prohibited in naturescapes:

Thorny olive (Elaeagnus pungens), Autumn olive, (Elaeagnus umbellate Thunb)

Chinese privet (Ligustrum sinense)

Nuisance shall mean any condition, act or occurrence that results in annoyance, harm, inconvenience or damage to another; and the fact that the act or occurrence may otherwise be lawful shall not keep it from being a nuisance. The inconvenience complained of shall not be fanciful, or such as would affect only one of fastidious taste, but it shall be such as would affect an ordinary reasonable person.

Occupant shall mean any person over one (1) year of age living in, using or having possession of a dwelling, except that a temporary guest shall not be considered an occupant.

Operator shall mean the person or persons, if any, with whom the owner has an agreement to manage, lease, rent, control, maintain or care for rental property, vacant property or a building with special uses.

Owner shall mean any person or persons having any individual, joint or common title or interest in real property defined by the laws of the State of Georgia as a legal or equitable estate or interest.

Owner-Occupied Dwelling shall mean any dwelling occupied in the entirety by its owner and/or the family of the owner.

Party in Interest shall mean a person in possession of property or having title or interest in property as defined by the laws of the State of Georgia as a legal or equitable estate or interest in property, and shall include, but not be limited to an executor, administrator, guardian or trustee.

Person shall mean an individual, partnership, joint venture, association, corporation or any other legal entity recognized by the laws of the State of Georgia.

Plumbing shall mean all of the following supplied facilities and equipment: gas pipes, water pipes, garbage disposal units, waste pipes, water closets, hot water heaters, sinks, lavatories, bathtubs, shower baths, catch basins, drains, vents, and other similar supplied fixtures, together with all connections to water, sewer or gas lines.

Premises shall mean a lot, plot or parcel of land, including dwellings, buildings, or structures thereon.

Property shall mean buildings, dwellings, land and whatever is erected or growing upon or affixed thereto.

Rental Dwelling Unit shall mean a dwelling unit for which periodic payments or other consideration is received in exchange for use and possession thereof.

Rooming House shall mean any dwelling space consisting of one or more rooming units in which the owner or operator rents space to five through fifteen persons.

Rooming Unit shall mean any room or group of rooms forming a single habitable unit used or intended to be used for living or sleeping but not for cooking purposes.

Rubbish, Litter and Debris shall mean combustible and noncombustible waste materials except garbage. Such shall include, but not be limited to: paper, rags, cartons, boxes, wood, excelsior, rubber, leather, tree branches, yard trimmings, tin cans, metals, mineral material, glass, crockery and the residue from the burning of wood, coal, coke and other combustible material.

Safety hazard shall mean the presence of unrestricted growth of brush, vines or vegetation which creates a hazard on the premises or to adjacent property, or overhangs the right of way in such a way as to impede the free and full use of the right of way.

Secured Dwelling shall mean a vacant dwelling to which unforced entry by persons cannot be readily made through the said dwelling's doors, windows or other openings of sufficient size to facilitate entry by persons.

Substandard Dwelling shall mean a dwelling in which any condition exists that is set forth in Section 19 or that does not meet the applicable requirements set out in Article II herein.

Substantial Compliance shall mean the existence in the subject building or dwelling unit of no more than three (3) violations of this Code, none of which constitutes a violation of Section 19.

Supplied shall mean contracted for, furnished by, installed by or under the control of the owner or operator of property.

Surface, all-weather shall mean any surface treatment, including gravel, which is applied to and maintained so as to prevent erosion, and to prevent vehicle wheels from making direct contact with soil, sod or mud and which effectively prevents the depositing of soil, sod or mud onto streets from areas required to be treated.

Thicket shall mean an area of dense or tangled growths of brush or vines.

Uncultivated shall mean not part of a planned, maintained landscape.

Unfit for Human Habitation shall mean the existence on property of any condition that is set forth in Section 19 of this Code.

Utility Services shall mean water, gas, electric and sewer services.

Vacant shall mean unoccupied.

Vacant lot shall mean a parcel of land devoid of an edifice of any kind.

Vegetative growth shall mean any and all uncultivated growth exceeding a height or length of 12 inches, as measured from the surface of the ground, of any lot, tract or parcel of land.

Weed shall mean all unrestricted vegetative growth, including nuisance plants.

Workmanlike Maintenance and Repair shall mean maintenance and repair made in a reasonable skillful manner and ordinarily performed, under similar conditions and like circumstances, by persons in that trade or profession.

(Ord. No. 1996-79, § 2, 11-12-96; Ord. No. 1998-26, § 1, 5-12-98; Ord. No. 1998-56, § 2, 9-16-98; Ord. No. 1999-74, § 1, 10-26-99; Ord. No. 2008-65(08-O-1285), § 2, 7-28-08; Ord. No. 2008-84(08-O-2059), §§ 1—4, 11-24-08; Ord. No. 2017-63(17-O-1275), §§ 1, 2, 11-6-17 ; Ord. No. 2018-56(18-O-1661), § 1, 11-14-18 )