[HISTORY: Adopted by the Council of the City of Mount Vernon 11-13-1957 as Ch. 44
of the General Ordinances, approved 11-15-1957. Amendments noted where applicable.]
No person shall park any trailer or house car used for living
or sleeping quarters within the City except in a duly licensed automobile
trailer camp.
Duly licensed automobile trailer camps shall be permitted only
within an industrial district as defined by the Zoning Ordinance of
the City of Mount Vernon.[1]
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
Any plot of ground where accommodation is provided for one
or more automobile trailers or house cars used or arranged to be used
for living or sleeping quarters.
Any vehicle used or arranged to be used for living or sleeping
quarters, mounted on wheels and movable or propelled either by its
own power or drawn by another power-driven vehicle.
That portion of an automobile trailer camp set apart for
the use of an individual automobile trailer or house car.
It shall be unlawful for any person to establish, maintain,
operate or conduct within the City of Mount Vernon any automobile
trailer camp unless duly licensed so to do as hereinafter provided
and except in strict compliance with this chapter and all other provisions
of law and ordinances applicable thereto.
An application for a license shall be made in triplicate to
the City Clerk upon forms to be furnished by him. Said application
shall include or state the name and address of the owner of the premises;
the name and address of the applicant and the nature and extent of
his interest in the business for which a license is desired; the location
and plot plan of the automobile trailer camp and the number of units
to be provided for therein; three sets of detailed plans and specifications
of all buildings, structures, plumbing, sewer and drainage systems
and lighting; and any other information which may be required by the
City Clerk. Such application shall be accompanied by a fee of $25,
which shall cover the required investigation, and whether or not a
license is issued, such investigation fee shall be retained by the
City.
The City Clerk shall refer such application, together with the
plans and specifications, to the Commissioner of Health, Fire Commissioner,
Commissioner of Public Safety and Commissioner of Public Works for
their approval, and no license shall be issued without their approval.
A.
No automobile trailer or house car shall be less than 20 feet from
any other trailer or house car.
B.
No automobile trailer camp shall be less than 150 feet from any property
line or from any other building.
C.
No automobile trailer camp shall be less than 200 feet from a public
school, playground, public library, church, hospital, orphanage or
children's institution housing children under 16 years of age.
D.
No unit which accommodates an automobile trailer or house car shall
be less than 30 feet by 40 feet in area, which area shall be clearly
defined by markers on each corner.
A.
If such application is approved as hereinbefore provided, the City
Clerk shall issue a license to the applicant upon payment of a fee
of $10 per unit.
B.
Each license or renewal thereof shall expire on May 1 next following
its issuance and may be renewed for a period of one year from the
date of expiration, after application and payment of the fee required
in this section.
C.
Such license shall always be on display in the office of the automobile
trailer camp.
All entrances and exits from any automobile trailer camp shall
be well marked and so arranged as not to constitute a traffic hazard.
All driveways within such camp shall be hard surfaced, not less than
18 feet in width, well marked in the daytime and lighted at night
and so located that each unit in the camp is readily accessible to
a driveway.
Every automobile trailer camp shall be provided with toilets,
urinals, washbasins, slop basins, showers, water faucets, etc., in
accordance with the following:
A.
One toilet for each sex for every five units or fraction thereof
shall be provided.
B.
Each toilet room for men shall have, in addition, one urinal stall.
C.
Each toilet room shall have at least one sink or lavatory for every
three toilets or fraction thereof.
D.
One shower for each sex for each five units or fraction thereof shall
be provided. Bathtubs are prohibited.
E.
Laundry tubs and slop sinks or basins with water supply shall be
provided to serve each five units or fraction thereof.
F.
All toilets, sinks, showers, urinals, etc., shall be placed in properly
constructed buildings located not more than one 150 feet from each
unit intended to be served thereby.
G.
Toilet buildings shall be well lighted at all times, day and night,
well ventilated with screened openings and constructed of such moistureproof
material as shall permit rapid and satisfactory cleaning, scouring
and washing.
H.
The floors shall be of a concrete or similar material, elevated not
less than four inches above grade, and shall slope to a floor drain
located in each room.
I.
The use of toilets located in the automobile trailers or house cars
is prohibited.
J.
All plumbing installation, except as herein provided, shall be made
in accordance with the Plumbing Code of the City of Mount Vernon.
All toilets, sinks, basins and urinals, showers and other fixtures
discharging waste matter shall be properly trapped and connected with
the public sewer in such a manner as may be approved by the Health
Commissioner and the Plumbing Inspector.
K.
Only City water supply or other supply approved by the Health Department
of the City of Mount Vernon shall be used at any automobile trailer
camp. If a private supply is used, arrangements must be made for a
weekly bacteriological analysis by a laboratory approved by the Health
Department of the City of Mount Vernon, at the expense of the licensee,
and report thereof filed with said Health Department within 24 hours
of completion of analysis. There shall be at least one tap for drinking
purposes for every three units, and such taps shall be so arranged
and located as to be easily accessible to the occupants of said units.
L.
Where toilet and bathing facilities are provided for both sexes in
the same building, a tight, soundproof wall shall be constructed between
the male and female sections.
M.
A covered metal flytight garbage pail and a covered metal rubbish
container of adequate size shall be provided for each two units or
part thereof.
N.
Each toilet building shall be distinctly marked "MEN" or "WOMEN"
in accordance with the sex for which it is provided.
An automobile trailer camp shall be located on a well-drained
site of adequate size, the land of which shall be free from heavy
or dense growth of brush or weeds. The land shall be properly graded
so as to ensure rapid drainage during and following rain and free
from stagnant pools of water.
There shall be maintained in each automobile trailer camp at
least one approved fire extinguisher for every five units or part
thereof.
A.
Every automobile trailer camp shall be under the management of the
licensee, who must be of good reputation and character and who shall
manage such camp from an office located on the premises. There shall
be maintained in such office a bound book containing a record of the
names of any persons accommodated at the camp, their home addresses,
the time of their arrival and departure and the license number and
make of their automobile or other vehicle. Such record shall at all
reasonable times be available for inspection by any police officer.
B.
It shall be the duty of the licensee of any such camp:
(1)
To provide for the collection of garbage and other waste material.
(2)
To prohibit the placing or storage of unsightly material or vehicles
of any kind.
(3)
To provide for the cleaning, painting, repairing and disinfecting
of all buildings.
(4)
To take such other measures as shall be deemed necessary by the Health
Department of the City of Mount Vernon, Fire Commissioner, Bureau
of Buildings and the Commissioner of Public Safety to preserve the
health, comfort and safety of all persons accommodated in the camp
and of the general public.
(5)
To prevent any animal from running at large within or outside the
camp.
(6)
To report to the Health Department all cases of communicable diseases
or suspected cases of communicable diseases affecting any inmate of
the camp.
(7)
To prevent the committing of any nuisance on the camp premises and
to report immediately to the proper authorities all acts of a disorderly
character committed by any person or persons inside the camp, and
to that end to maintain proper policing thereof.
Every automobile trailer camp and automobile trailer shall comply
with the following rules and regulations of the Fire Department:
A.
Cooking with gasoline stoves is prohibited.
B.
Rubber hose or other flexible tubing is prohibited for use of conveying
fuel gases to any heater or stove.
C.
Wood-burning or coal-burning stoves must be equipped with spark arresters.
D.
Vent pipes of heating appliances passing through a roof or side wall
of trailers must have at least one inch of clearance and must be entirely
surrounded by terra-cotta, asbestos or other approved type of thimble.
E.
No trailer camp shall burn rubbish and trash unless an approved type
of incinerator is used and is located not less than 15 feet from any
building, structure or trailer house.
F.
Storage of Class I liquids [flash point below 100° F.] is prohibited.
G.
Storage of combustible material, such as hay, rags or junk, which
may create a fire hazard, is prohibited.
H.
There shall be a connection to the City water main with a two-inch
pipe minimum, with one-half-inch hose and nozzle, so arranged that
it will reach all parts of the trailer camp. Hose must be kept on
a reel or rack to protect it from the weather.
I.
All trailers must be arranged or located so that they may be moved
from the trailer camp quickly in an emergency.
The removal of the wheels or any similar transporting device
from an automobile trailer or house car or the permanent attachment
of such trailer or car to the ground in a manner that would prevent
the ready removal thereof and any alteration to any such trailer or
car shall be construed as removing it from the requirements of this
chapter and converting it into a dwelling subject to the requirements
of the Building Code of the City of Mount Vernon.
The City Clerk may, upon his own initiative or upon the recommendation
of the Commissioner of Health, Commissioner of Public Safety, Commissioner
of Public Works or Fire Commissioner of the City of Mount Vernon,
revoke or suspend the license granted under authority of this chapter
for a failure to comply with any provision of this chapter or any
laws or regulations relating to any such camp.
All electrical installation and work shall be made in accordance
with the Electrical Code of the City.[1]
No license shall be granted for the construction of any automobile
trailer camp in violation of the Zoning Ordinance[1] or other ordinances of the City of Mount Vernon.
Every automobile trailer camp containing five or more units
shall be enclosed with a suitable fence.
The owner, lessee, licensee, occupant of or person accommodated
in any such camp who commits any act in violation of any of the provisions
of this chapter shall each be liable for any such violation and for
the penalty therefor. Each day such violation shall continue or be
permitted to exist shall constitute a separate violation.
