East Haven, Conn., Code of Ordinances ch. 10, art. V § 10-93

For the purpose of this section, the following words, terms and phrases and their derivations shall have the meaning given herein. The word "shall" is always mandatory and not merely directory. The word "may" is always discretionary.
Abandoned means any property and structure or buildings thereon which has not been legally occupied for thirty (30) days or longer.
Agent means any person, firm, agency, corporation, company, limited company, partnership or limited partnership; either jointly or severally, who acts, manages or performs a service on the part of an owner(s).
Blight enforcement officer shall mean the town's building and zoning, or code officials, Director of East Shore Health District, the fire marshall, the public work's director, or his designee, the assessor, or any sworn member of the East Haven Police Department, the superintendent of the department of public services, or his designee.
Blighted property and/or premises means any land or structure or part thereof that is a separate unit on which at least one (1) or more of the following conditions exist: (1)
Where it is determined by the town's blight officer, building or code officials, or the Director of East Shore Health or the fire marshall or any police officer of the Town of East Haven that conditions exist that pose a serious or immediate danger to the safety, health and general welfare of the community, or is unsafe, or a potential fire hazard.
(2) The property, and/or building, and/or structure(s) thereon is (are) not being diligently maintained.
(3) Is becoming dilapidated, and open to the elements, has collapsing or missing walls, roofs, windows, doors, or is unable to provide shelter, or serve the purpose for which it was constructed due to damage, dilapidation, decay, or severe animal infestation; the property in the public view is chronically neglected or abandoned as further documented in the records of the town's building and zoning department, or the records of the director of health or the fire marshall. Dilapidation shall also include any such property or premises that contains materials which are incapable of performing the function for which they are designed, including, but not limited to abandoned, discarded, or unused objects, equipment such as automobiles, boats and recreation vehicles which are unregistered and/or missing parts, not complete in appearance and in an obvious state of disrepair, parts of automobiles, furniture, appliances, cans, boxes, scrap metal, tiles, batteries, containers and garbage that are in public view.
(4) Is attracting illegal activity, as documented in the records of the department of police service, and/or the State of Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection, Liquor Control Commission.
(5) Is a factor in creating a substantial and unreasonable interference with the reasonable and lawful use and enjoyment of other space within the building; or of other premises within the neighborhood, as documented by neighbor complaints to the town, its officers, agents and/or employees, or the cancellation of insurance on proximate properties.
(6) Is the location of the slaughter of live animals and/or the exhibition of dead animals in public view.
Boarding house means the letting of rooms and/or the furnishing of board in a dwelling unit, to a total of not more than three (3) unrelated persons, and with the following conditions: (1)
The property owner letting the room and/or furnishing board shall reside in the dwelling unit; and
(2) The establishment of any rooming/boarding house in any zone shall be by special exception;
(3) When rooms are let, the dwelling unit shall contain a minimum floor area of two hundred (200) square feet of living space times the number of persons residing in the dwelling unit;
(4) The letting of rooms not include the provisions of cooking facilities for such rooms, but may include the sharing of the cooking facilities of the dwelling;
(5) No accessory building or a part thereof shall be used for, or as part of the letting of room or the furnishing of board;
(6) A yearly certificate of compliance requiring review or inspection from the local zoning, fire marshal, building official and health organization to insure public health, safety and welfare are afforded. The fee for said certificate of compliance shall be two hundred fifty dollars ($250.00) per year;
(7) Failure to obtain and/or renew the aforesaid certificate of compliance within thirty (30) days of the expiration date will result in the automatic revocation of said special exception;
(8) Any/all pre-existing rooming/boarding house in operation on the effective date of this text change [5-15-13] shall not be exempt from subsections E and F of the regulation. Any pre-existing and/or existing rooming/boarding house that suspends said SE [special exception] for a period of one (1) year shall be required to re-apply for a special exception.
Caretaker means any individual who has agreed to be responsible for performing maintenance and upkeep of real property, whether compensated or not.
Commercial means pertaining, related or connected to trade and traffic or to the exchange or sale of goods, productions or property of any kind.
Composting materials means yard trimmings, leaves, vegetables or other organic wastes, which when properly stored, will undergo a natural transformation into "compost."
Days means consecutive calendar days.
Dilapidated means a building or structure with partial decay or disrepair, or part therefore that would not qualify to receive a "certificate of use and occupancy" if one were to be applied for.
Due diligence means a conscientious effort or attempt by a reasonable person.
Exterior lighting means sources of artificial illumination, along with the fixtures, poles and necessary wiring.
Exterior property or grounds means any area of a lot or site not covered by a building or a structure and excluding any open porch or deck areas, land trust property, and state and farm properties.
Facade means the principal face, and/or side of a building that is visible to the general public; extending from ground level to the highest visible point of the roof or any attachment thereto.
Foreclosing or foreclosure process means the legal process of mortgage foreclosure initiated by an entity holding a security against the property for an unpaid debt, by which the entity is proposing to take the property in lieu of the debt due to borrower by default ("strict foreclosure"), or the entity is proposing a sale of the property to pay the debt due to borrower by default ("foreclosure by sale"). Note: The foreclosure of judgment liens, tax liens and condominium liens is not included within the scope of this article.
Foreclosing entity means the creditor (including service companies and lenders), who files the action in superior court as plaintiff and has the right to foreclose real property in lieu of unpaid mortgage debt.
Garbage means food wastes, food wrappers, containers, cans, bottles or any other material that results or remains from the use, consumption and preparation of food or drink as well as any other expended, used or discarded materials such as paper, plastic, cardboard, metal, rags glass or any other wastes generated from day-to-day activities of a household, business or industry; but shall not include properly prepared and stored recyclable materials or properly maintained compost areas.
Industrial means pertaining to, or related to the production, assembly, storage, shipping of any material or product or component as a means of livelihood or for profit.
Initiation of the foreclosure process means a filing of lis pendens on the real property.
Landscaping means decorative, ornamental plantings comprised of grass, trees, shrubs, bushes, flowers and other plantings along with mulch, decorative stones, pools, ponds, bird baths and/or ornamental sculptures or ornamental or privacy fencing.
Lot means any land area, devoid of buildings or structures within the confines of the front, rear and side property lines.
Nonoccupant owner means every person, entity, or company, who alone or severally with others, for any dwelling, dwelling unit, mobile dwelling unit, or parcel of land, vacant or otherwise, including a mobile home park, has become the owner by way of purchasing at a foreclosure by sale (committee deed), or is a foreclosing entity who has become the property owner by way of strict foreclosure.
Notwithstanding means in spite of.
Owner means one (1) or more persons, corporation, limited liability company, partnership; jointly or severally, in whom is vested: (1)
All or part of the legal title to property; or
(2) All or part of the beneficial ownership and a right to the present use and enjoyment of the premises and accompanying land; and includes a mortgagee in possession.
Pavement means concrete, and/or bituminous asphalt surfaces along with curbing, ramping and required pavement markings.
Person is any individuals, company, public or private corporation, partnership, management agent, societies or association or any employee or member thereof who owns, possesses, controls, leases or manages a parcel of real estate within the town. The singular term and the related pronoun shall include the plural, the masculine and feminine.
Private property or premises is any land, dwelling, house, boarding house, building or other structure designed or used either wholly or in part for private residential, commercial or industrial purposes, whether inhabited or temporarily or continuously uninhabited or vacant; and shall include any yard, grounds, walks, driveway, parking lot, fire zone, buffer area, porch, steps, vestibule, free standing signage belonging to or appurtenant to such dwelling, house, building or structure.
Property management company means any business retained to care and maintain real property.
Property owner means any person or entity which holds title to a property.
Public place is any and all streets, sidewalks, boulevards, alleys or other public ways and any/all public parks, squares, grounds and buildings.
Public view means all areas of any property that are visible by pedestrian, vehicular traffic in the public right-of-way, and/or visible from private property designed for use by the general public or from an adjoining property.
Residential means pertaining to one's residence, place of abode and/or dwelling.
Securing means measures that assist in making the property inaccessible to unauthorized persons.
Shall denotes something that is mandatory, not discretionary.
Signs mean any exterior display of a message, name, advertisement, directional indicator and/or instructional indicator that may or may not be illuminated; but, for the purpose of this section, shall not mean any type of pavement markings.
Sidewalk area means the area located between a property line and a curb-line of a street or highway.
Solid waste shall mean materials or substances that are discarded or rejected or worthless. This includes, but is not limited to: garbage, refuse, industrial or commercial waste, rubbish, tires, ashes, construction and demolition debris, inoperable motor vehicles or parts, discarded household and commercial appliances, shopping carts, discarded furniture or commercial displays, unstacked wood or tree cuttings, shipping skids and pallets, and bagged or loose grass and lawn clipping, leaves, weeds and other composting materials not intended to be composted.
An object or item [above] shall be presumed to be solid waste when it appears to be discarded, rejected, improperly stacked or stored and/or placed or left on the grounds or exterior of the property in the view of neighbors or passersby or general public under circumstances which meet one (1) or more of the following criteria: (1)
The object(s) produces an offensive smell;
(2) The object(s) is of a type designed for interior use, or is made of materials suitable only for interior use, yet is left outside and is exposed to the elements.
(3) The object(s) has obviously been discarded.
(4) The object(s) has reached a degree of dilapidation or disrepair that can reasonably be presumed to render said object incapable of being used for its original or other reasonable purpose.
(5) The object, despite its condition, is left, placed or stored in such a manner which appears likely to cause bodily injury or injury to the property of another.
Standing order: means a sign issued by and through the East Haven Police Department that is signed by the owner which allows the police to take notice and arrest any trespassers.
Unit means any space within a building that is, or can be rented to a single entity for his/hers/its sole use and is intended to be a single and distinct space or area.
Vacant means not inhabited or in use.
Vacant parcel means a parcel of land with no buildings or structures thereon.
Yard means an open, occupied space on a lot.
Yard, front means the open, unoccupied space on a lot from the front of the main structure to the street line.
Yard, rear means the open, unoccupied space from the rear of the main structure, back to the rear property line.
Yard, side means the open, unoccupied space extending from a side property line, inward toward the middle of said lot.