No person shall conduct, keep, manage or operate, or cause to be conducted, kept, managed or operated, either as an owner, lessee, agent or attorney, a rooming house in the Village of Dobbs Ferry without having first obtained and paid for and having in full force and effect a license for such operation, issued by the Enforcement Officer. Such license shall be in addition to any license, permit or certificate issued by officials of the County of Westchester or the State of New York and in addition to a special permit issued by the Board of Zoning Appeals of the Village of Dobbs Ferry pursuant to Chapter 300, Zoning and Land Use, of the Village Code.[1]
A.
Application.
(1)
Any person desiring to procure a license as
herein provided shall file with the Enforcement Officer a written
application in accordance with departmental regulations.
(2)
The Enforcement Officer shall cause and request
inspections to be made to determine compliance by the applicant with
all applicable laws, codes, ordinances and regulations, including
but not limited to firesafety and the Zoning and Building Codes of
the Village of Dobbs Ferry [2] and the Sanitary Code of the County of Westchester.
(3)
In causing and requesting said inspections,
the Enforcement Officer shall notify the Department of Health of Westchester
County or, where appropriate, the New York State Department of Health,
and the Police Department of Dobbs Ferry that such application has
been made.
(4)
Any officer or employee of the Police, Fire
and Building Departments or of the Department of Health of the County
of Westchester, so far as it may be necessary for the performance
of his duties, shall have the right to enter any rooming house in
said Village of Dobbs Ferry upon showing proper credentials. Application
for a license herein shall constitute consent by the applicant to
such entry.
B.
Issuance, transfer and expiration of license.
(1)
Upon receipt of the results of the various inspections,
written recommendations from the Westchester County Department of
Health and from the Police Department and after determining that the
planned use complies with all applicable laws, codes, ordinances and
regulations, and after the payment of the proper fee as set forth
below, the Enforcement Officer shall issue a license to conduct a
rooming house.
(2)
Licenses issued under provisions of this chapter
shall be personal to the applicant and shall not be transferable.
(3)
All licenses issued under provisions of this
chapter shall expire one year from date of issuance.
E.
Revocation of license; notice and hearing. The Enforcement
Officer may at any time, after giving notice to the licensee and providing
an opportunity to the licensee to be heard, revoke any license for
any false statement contained in any application for such license
or for the violation of any applicable law, ordinance, code or regulation.
The Enforcement Officer shall cause notice of such hearing and the
reason or reasons for same to be served upon the person(s) named in
the application as the licensee(s) and also upon the owner of record
of the premises so licensed. Said service of notice shall be by certified
mail, with return receipt, directed to the licensee at the licensed
premises and/or to the owner at the address of said owner last known
to the Enforcement Officer or by personal service.
A.
Every licensee shall keep or cause to be kept in permanent
form a register in which there shall be recorded the name in ordinary
use and the present residence or prior address of each and every person
or guest renting or occupying a room or rooms in the licensed premises,
together with a true and accurate record of the room or rooms assigned
to such person or persons and of the date and hour when such room
or rooms is or are assigned. The register shall be kept in accordance
with regulations promulgated by the Enforcement Officer and shall
be open to inspection by guests or any peace officer of the Village
of Dobbs Ferry or of the County of Westchester or of the United States.
B.
No person shall write or cause to be written in a
rooming house register any other or different name or designation
than the true name or name in ordinary use of the person registering
or causing to be registered therein. No person occupying a room in
a rooming house shall fail to register or fail to cause to be registered.
A notice of this provision shall be posted at all times in a conspicuous
place on the licensed premises.
C.
Every person conducting a rooming house shall cause
each rooming unit in such facility to be numbered in a plain, conspicuous
and legible manner. Such numbers shall be placed on the outside of
the entrance door of the rooming unit, and no two rooming units shall
bear the same number.
Every rooming house containing seven or more
rooming units shall have a resident caretaker or manager on the premises
at all times. Such resident caretaker or manager must be designated
in writing as agent of the owner of the premises for receipt of legal
process.
All rooms and facilities licensed to be used
under the provisions of this chapter shall comply with the light,
ventilation, cleanliness, fire protection, sanitary facilities, food
preparation and storage and structural requirements of this chapter,
the Building Code, the Firesafety Code and the Zoning Ordinance of
the Village of Dobbs Ferry [1] and the Sanitary Code of the County of Westchester, as
well as all applicable state and federal laws and regulations. The
Enforcement Officer or the inspector shall have access to any premises
licensed in accordance with this chapter at all reasonable times to
determine and investigate such code compliance.
The minimum standards for habitable and nonhabitable areas in rooming houses, including but not limited to light and ventilation, electrical service and fixtures and heat, shall conform to the minimum standards required under this chapter for habitable and nonhabitable areas in all residential structures, except as provided for in this Part 5 of this chapter.
