Every provision of this article which applies
to rooming houses shall also apply to hotels or motels, except to
the extent that any such provision may be found in conflict with the
laws of the state or with the lawful regulations of any state board
or agency.
No person shall operate a rooming house unless
he holds a valid rooming house license issued by the Director of Health
in the name of the operator for the specific dwelling or dwelling
unit.
The operator shall apply to the Director of
Health for such license, which shall be issued upon compliance by
the operator with the applicable provisions of this Part 1 and of
any rules and regulations adopted pursuant thereto.
Every rooming house license shall expire at
the end of one year following its date of issuance, unless sooner
suspended or revoked as hereinafter provided. The fee for such license
shall be $5.
A.
This license shall be displayed in a conspicuous place
within the rooming house at all times.
B.
No such license shall be transferable.
C.
Every person holding such a license shall give notice
in writing to the Director of Health within 24 hours after having
sold, transferred, given away or otherwise disposed of ownership of,
interest in or control of any rooming house. Such notice shall include
the name and address of the person succeeding to the ownership or
control of such rooming house.
Any person whose application for a license to operate a rooming house has been denied may request, and shall be granted, a hearing on the matter before the Director of Health under the procedure provided in § 120-6.
Any person whose license to operate a rooming house has been suspended, or who has received notice from the Director of Health that his license is to be suspended unless existing conditions or practices at his rooming house are corrected, may request, and shall be granted, a hearing on the matter before the Director of Health under the procedure provided by § 120-6, provided that if no petition for such hearing is filed within 10 days following the day on which such permit was suspended, such license shall be deemed to have been automatically revoked.
The operator of every rooming house shall be
responsible for the sanitary maintenance of all walls, floors and
ceilings and for the maintenance of a sanitary condition in every
other part of the rooming house, and he shall be further responsible
for the sanitary maintenance of the entire premises where the entire
structure or building is leased or occupied by the operator.
At least one flush water closet, lavatory basin
and bathtub or shower, properly connected to a water and sewer system
approved by the Director of Health, and in good working condition,
shall be supplied for each eight persons or fraction thereof residing
within a rooming house, including members of the operator's family
wherever they share the use of such facilities, provided that, in
a rooming house where rooms are let only to males, flush urinals may
be substituted for not more than 1/2 the required number of water
closets. All such facilities shall be so located within the dwelling
as to be reasonably accessible from a common hall or passageway to
all of the persons sharing such facilities and shall be on the same
floor as the rooming units which they serve. Every lavatory basin
and bathtub or shower shall be supplied with hot water at all times.
No such facilities shall be located in a basement except by written
approval of the Director of Health.
The operator of every rooming house shall change
supplied bed linen and towels therein at least once each week and
prior to the letting of any room to any occupant. The operator shall
be responsible for the maintenance of all supplied bedding in a clean
and sanitary manner.
Every room occupied for sleeping purposes by
one person shall contain at least 70 square feet of floor space, and
every room occupied for sleeping purposes by more than one person
shall contain at least 50 square feet of floor space for each occupant
thereof.
Every rooming unit shall have safe, unobstructed
means of egress leading to a safe and open space at ground level as
required by the laws of the state and the Town.
Whenever, upon inspection of any rooming house,
conditions or practices are found to exist which are in violation
of any provision of this article or of any rule or regulation adopted
pursuant thereto, the Director of Health shall give notice in writing
to the operator of such rooming house that, unless such conditions
or practices are corrected within a reasonable period to be determined
by the Director of Health, the operator's rooming house license
will be suspended. At the end of such period, the Director of Health
shall reinspect such rooming house, and if it is found that such conditions
or practices have not been corrected, notice in writing shall be given
to the operator that his license has been suspended. Upon receipt
of notice of suspension, such operator shall immediately cease operation
of such rooming house, and no person shall occupy for sleeping or
living purposes any rooming unit therein.
