For the purposes of this article the following definitions shall apply:
Business Buildings.
Shall mean any structure, whether public or private, that is adapted for occupancy for transaction of business, for rendering of professional service, for amusement, for the display, sale or storage of goods, wares, or merchandise, or for the performance of work or labor, including hotels, apartment buildings, tenement houses, rooming houses, office buildings, public buildings, stores, theatres, markets, restaurants, grain elevators, abattoirs, warehouses, workshops, factories, and all out houses, sheds, barns and other structures or premises used for business purposes.
Health Officer.
Shall mean the superintendent, commissioner or director of health or his duly authorized representatives.
Occupant.
Shall mean the individual, partnership, or corporation that uses or occupies any business building, whether the actual owner or tenant. In the case of vacant business buildings or vacant portions thereof, the owner, agent, or custodian shall have the responsibility as occupant.
Owner.
Shall mean the actual owner, agent, or custodian of the business building, whether individual, partnership, or corporation. The lessee shall be construed as the "owner" for the purpose of this article when business buildings agreements hold the lessee responsible for maintenance and repairs.
Rat Eradication.
Shall mean the elimination or extermination of rats within buildings by any or all of the accepted measures, such as: poisoning, fumigation, trapping, clubbing, etc.
Rat Harborage.
Shall mean any condition, which provides shelter or protection for rats, thus favoring their multiplication and continued existence in, under, or outside of any structure.
Ratproofing.
Shall mean a form of construction to prevent the ingress of rats into business buildings from the exterior or from one business building or establishment to another. It consists essentially of treatment with material, impervious to rat gnawing, all actual or potential openings in exterior or from one business building or establishment to another. It consists essentially of treatment with material, impervious to rat gnawing, all actual or potential openings in exterior walls, ground or first floors, basements, roof and foundations, that may be reached by rats from the ground by climbing or burrowing.
(1965 Code of Ordinances, Chapter 9, Article III, Section 9-35)
All business buildings in the city shall be ratproofed, freed of rats, and maintained in a ratproof and rat free condition to the satisfaction of the health officer.
(1965 Code of Ordinances, Chapter 9, Article III, Section 9-36)
Upon receipt of written notice and/or order from the health officer, the owner of any business building specified therein shall take immediate measures for ratproofing the building, and that unless said work and improvements have been completed by the owner in the time specified in the written notice, in no event to be less than fifteen (15) days, or within the time to which a written extension may have been granted by the health officer, then the owner shall be deemed guilty of an offense under the provisions of this article.
(1965 Code of Ordinances, Chapter 9, Article III, Section 9-37)
Whenever the health officer notifies the occupant or occupants of a business building in writing that there is evidence of rat infestation of the building, said occupant or occupants shall immediately institute rat eradication measures and shall continuously maintain such measures in a satisfactory manner until the premises is declared by the health officer to be free of rat infestation. Unless said measures are undertaken within five (5) days after receipt of notice, it shall be construed, as a violation of the provisions of this article and occupant shall be held responsible therefore.
(1965 Code of Ordinances, Chapter 9, Article III, Section 9-38)
The owners of all ratproofed business buildings are required to maintain the premises in a ratproofed condition and to repair all breaks or leaks that may occur in the ratproofing without a specific order of the health officer.
(1965 Code of Ordinances, Chapter 9, Article III, Section 9-39)
Whenever conditions inside or under any occupied business buildings within the city provide extensive harborage for rats in the opinion of the health officer, the health officer is empowered, after due notification in accordance with Section 6.603, to close such business buildings until such time as the conditions are abated by ratproofing and harborage removal including, if necessary, the installation of suitable concrete floors in basements or replacement of wooden first or ground floors with concrete or other major repairs necessary to facilitate rat eradication.
(1965 Code of Ordinances, Chapter 9, Article III, Section 9-40)
Whenever conditions inside or under any unoccupied business buildings provide extensive harborage for rats in the opinion of the health officer, the health officer is empowered to require compliance with the provisions of Section 6.603, above and in the event that said conditions are not corrected in a period of sixty (60) days, or within the time to which a written extension may have been granted by the health officer, the health officer is empowered to institute condemnation and destruction proceedings.
(1965 Code of Ordinances, Chapter 9, Article III, Section 9-41)
It shall be unlawful for any person to occupy any new or existing business buildings wherein foodstuffs are to be stored, kept, handled, sold, held or offered for sale without complying with the provisions of this article; unless the provisions of this section are complied with, no city license or permit to conduct or carry on any business mentioned above will be issued.
(1965 Code of Ordinances, Chapter 9, Article III, Section 9-42)
All food and feed within the city for feeding chickens, cows, pigs, horses and other animals shall be stored in rat free and ratproof containers, compartments, or rooms unless stored in a ratproof building.
(1965 Code of Ordinances, Chapter 9, Article III, Section 9-43)
The health officer is empowered to make unannounced inspections of the interior and exterior of business buildings to determine full compliance with this article, and the health officer shall make periodic inspections at intervals of not more than forty-five (45) days of all ratproofed buildings to determine evidence of rat infestation and the existence of new breaks or leaks in their ratproofing and, when any evidence of it is found indicating the presence of rats or openings through which rats may again enter business buildings, the health officer shall serve the owners or occupants with notice and/or orders to abate the conditions found.
(1965 Code of Ordinances, Chapter 9, Article III, Section 9-44)
It shall be unlawful under the provisions of this article for the occupant, owner, contractor, Public Utility Company, plumber, or any other person to remove and fail to restore in like condition the ratproofing from any business building for any purpose. It shall further be unlawful for any person or agent to make any new openings that are not closed or sealed against the entrance of rats.
(1965 Code of Ordinances, Chapter 9, Article III, Section 9-45)
It shall be unlawful for any person to permit to accumulate on any premises, improved or vacant, or on any open lot or alley in the city, any lumber, boxes, barrels, bottles, cans, containers or similar materials that may be permitted to remain thereon unless same shall be placed on open racks that are elevated not less than eighteen (18) inches above the ground and evenly piled or stacked.
(1965 Code of Ordinances, Chapter 9, Article III, Section 9-46)