[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Trustees
of the Village of Hempstead 8-17-1981 by L.L. No. 4-1981.[1] Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Housing regulations — See Ch. 78.
General licensing provisions — See Ch. 86.
Zoning — See Ch. 139.
[1]
Editor's Note: This chapter was adopted as Art. II of L.L. No. 4-1981, which law also relates to Ch. 68, Food-Handling Establishments; Ch. 71, Garage Sales; Ch. 82, Junk Dealers; Ch. 86, Licensing and Business Regulations; Ch. 92, Parking Field Businesses; Ch. 97, Peddlers and Solicitors; Ch. 109, Secondhand Dealers; and Ch. 124, Theaters.
[Added 1-21-2020 by L.L. No. 1-2020[1]]
Any dwelling or part thereof which contains one or more rooming
units, in which space is let by the occupant or owner to three or
more persons for hire or otherwise.
A multiple dwelling, other than a hotel, a rooming house
or a furnished room house, in which persons are housed for hire for
a single night, or less than a week at one time, or any part of which
is let for any person to sleep in for any term less than a week.
Any dwelling or part thereof which contains one or more rooming
units, in which space is let by the occupant or owner to three or
more persons for hire or otherwise.
A.
Boardinghouses, rooming houses or lodging houses which
furnish lodging or rooming accommodations for hire or otherwise for
three or more persons within the Village are hereby prohibited except
boardinghouses, rooming houses or lodging houses licensed by the Village
prior to July 5, 1960, or licensed as a special exception by the Village
Board of Trustees to a charitable organization operating a building
for recreational or community purposes that may require the use of
rooms for sleeping purposes as a normal adjunct to the operation of
said building.
B.
Any boardinghouse, rooming house or lodging house licensed by the Village prior to July 5, 1960, may continue in operation as such until December 31, 1993; provided, further, that the owner or operator thereof shall, during said period, comply with each of the provisions of this Code relevant thereto. On said 31st day of December 1993, operation of any such boardinghouse, rooming house or lodging house shall cease and terminate. No further license shall thereafter be issued by the Village for the operation of any boardinghouse, rooming house or lodging house, except such as shall be licensed as a special exception by the Village Board of Trustees to a charitable organization as set forth in Subsection A above. This prohibition shall apply to any premises operated as a boardinghouse, rooming house or lodging house prior to July 5, 1960, and licensed by the Village as such, irrespective of any transfer in ownership or renewal of license subsequent to that date.
[Amended 12-15-1981 by L.L. No. 33-1981; 3-6-1984 by L.L. No. 3-1984; 12-20-1988 by L.L. No. 13-1988]
Any person maintaining a boardinghouse, rooming
house or lodging house pursuant to the provisions of this chapter
shall keep upon such premises a register, specifying as to each occupant:
name, the room or rooms occupied and the dates of commencement and
termination of occupancy. The register shall be exhibited upon demand
to the representative of any municipal agency requesting same.
In all cases where licenses have been issued
for the maintenance of boardinghouses, rooming houses or lodging houses,
the owner or a competent person designated by the owner as his agent
shall reside upon the premises for which the license was granted.
In the event the owner does not reside upon the premises, the agent
designated by the owner shall remain thereon at all reasonable hours
for the purpose of supervising the operation of the premises and to
make the same accessible for inspection by appropriate municipal agencies.
In addition to the foregoing requirements of
this chapter, any license heretofore issued shall be subject to revocation
unless the premises for which such license has been issued shall fully
comply with the following requirements:
A.
Character of licensee. The licensee shall be of good
moral character.
B.
Rooms above second floor. No rooms above the second
floor of the building shall be occupied by anyone for sleeping purposes.
C.
Occupancy. No such building shall be occupied by more
than one family in addition to the rooms occupied by roomers; and
such family shall be limited to the owner's immediate family.
D.
Heating. All Class B multiple dwellings[1] shall be heated by a central heating plant. No oil, wood
or gas stoves shall be used in such premises, and no appliance or
appliances used in the heating, cooking or storage of foodstuffs shall
be used or stored in any sleeping room.
[1]
Editor's Note: The term "Class B multiple
dwellings" was not defined in L.L. No. 4-1981. This appears to refer
to the definition of Class B multiple dwellings found in the Multiple
Dwelling Law Art. I, § 4(9), as follows:
9. A "Class B multiple dwelling" is a multiple
dwelling which is occupied, as a rule, transiently, as the more or
less temporary abode of individuals or families who are lodged with
or without meals. This class shall include hotels, lodging houses,
rooming houses, boardinghouses, boarding schools, furnished room houses,
lodgings, clubhouses, college and school dormitories and dwellings
designed as private dwellings but occupied by one or two families
with five or more transient boarders, roomers or lodgers in one household.
E.
Lighting. In all parts of such building, artificial
lighting shall be provided by means of electric current; and each
electric circuit shall be provided with a circuit breaker of proper
capacity in lieu of a fuse panel or switch.
F.
Plumbing. No basins or sinks shall be installed or
used in any sleeping room, but proper sanitary facilities shall be
provided in rooms other than sleeping rooms.
G.
Numbering rooms. All sleeping rooms shall be numbered
with raised figures not less than three inches in height placed on
the outside of the door to each room, and no two rooms shall bear
the same number.
H.
Use of register. The register referred to in § 48-2 shall at all times show the numbers of the rooms occupied by all persons living upon said premises and shall at all times be prominently displayed in the entrance hall of the building near the main front door.
I.
Fire protection in common areas. All walls and ceilings
of hallways and the walls and soffit of stairways of such buildings
shall be covered with materials or assemblies having a fire rating
of at least one hour.
J.
Fire extinguishers. Each and every floor on which
rooms are occupied by roomers shall be equipped with an approved fire
extinguisher in good working condition readily accessible for use
at all times.
In a multiple dwelling of three families or
more, no roomers, for hire or otherwise, shall be permitted in any
apartment therein nor shall any lodging or rooming accommodations,
for hire or otherwise, be furnished therein.
