Winona, Minn., City Code ch. 33A (2026) § 33A.04

33A.04 - DEFINITIONS
Where terms are not defined, they shall have their ordinary accepted meanings within the
context with which they are used. Words in the singular include the plural and the plural the
singular. Words used in the masculine gender include the feminine and the feminine the
masculine.

APARTMENT BUILDING is a building or portion of a building that contains three or more
dwelling units.

BED AND BREAKFAST is a building or part thereof, other than a hotel or motel, where lodging
and breakfast are provided to transient guests by a resident family for compensation.

BUILDING CODE is the Minnesota State Building Code.

CONGREGATE RESIDENCE is any building or portion thereof that contains facilities for living,
sleeping and sanitation, as required by this chapter, and may include facilities for eating and
cooking and for occupancy by other than a family. A congregate residence may be a shelter,
convent, monastery, dormitory, and fraternity or sorority house but does not include jails,
hospitals, nursing homes, hotels or lodging houses.

DWELLING is any building or portion thereof designed or used exclusively as the residence or
sleeping place of one or more persons, but not including a tent, cabin, trailer or trailer coach.

DWELLING UNIT is any unit containing a habitable room or suite of rooms forming a single
housekeeping unit for one or more persons and containing complete, independent facilities for
living, sleeping, cooking, eating and sanitation, and containing only one kitchen or kitchenette.

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EFFICIENCY DWELLING UNIT is a dwelling unit containing only one habitable room and
meeting the requirements of Section 33A.05(a)(ii) exception.

EGRESS is an arrangement of exit facilities to assure a safe means of exit from a building.

ELECTRICAL CODE is the National Electrical Code (NEC).

EXTERMINATION is the control and elimination of insects, rodents, or other pests by
eliminating their harborage places; by removing or making inaccessible materials that may
serve as their food; by poisoning, spraying, fumigating, trapping; or by any other recognized and
legal pest elimination method approved by the building official; and to remove all signs of
extermination thereafter.

FIRE CODE is the Minnesota State Fire Code.

FLOOR AREA is the net floor area within the enclosed walls of a room in which the ceiling
height is not less than 5 feet, excluding areas used for closets and built-in equipment, such as
cabinets, kitchen units, fixtures and appliances.

GRADE FLOOR OPENING is a window or other opening located such that the sill height of the
opening is not more than 44 inches above or below the finished ground level adjacent to the
opening.

HABITABLE ROOM is a room or enclosed floor space, used or intended to be used for living,
sleeping, cooking or eating purposes, excluding bathrooms, water closet compartments,
laundries, pantries, foyers or communicating corridors, closets and storage spaces.

HOTEL is any building or portion thereof operated as a commercial establishment containing
guest rooms that are accessed through an inside lobby or office and are offered to the general
public for transient sleeping accommodations.

HOT WATER is water supplied to plumbing fixtures at a temperature of not less than 120
degrees F (49 degrees C).

INFESTATION is the presence of insects, rodents, or other pests within or around the dwelling
on the premises.

LET is to give the use of a dwelling, dwelling unit, roominghouse, or rooming unit, residential
retreat center, bed and breakfast, or tourist home by an owner or manager to a tenant in return
for rent or other compensation.

MANAGER is a person or firm who has charge, care or control of a building or part thereof, in
which dwelling units or rooming units are let.

MECHANICAL CODE is the Minnesota State Mechanical Code.

NUISANCE. The following shall be defined as nuisances:

       1. Any public nuisance known at common law or in equity jurisprudence.

       2. Any attractive nuisance that may prove detrimental to children whether in a building,
           on the premises of a building or on an unoccupied lot. This includes any abandoned

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wells, shafts, basements or excavations; abandoned refrigerators and motor
           vehicles; any structurally unsound fences or structures; or any lumber, trash, fences,
           debris or vegetation that may prove a hazard for inquisitive minors.

       3. Whatever is dangerous to human life or is detrimental to health, as determined by
           the Building Official and/or the Building Inspector.

       4. Overcrowding a room with occupants.

       5. Insufficient ventilation or illumination.

       6. Inadequate or unsanitary sewage or plumbing facilities.

       7. Uncleanliness, as determined by the health officer.

       8. Whatever renders air, food or drink unwholesome or detrimental to the health of
           human beings, as determined by the Building Inspector.

       9. Such other nuisances as provided in City Code or applicable law.

OCCUPANT(S) is one or more persons occupying and maintaining a common household in a
single dwelling unit. For the purposes of this chapter, children under the age of 2 shall not be
counted as an occupant.

OWNER is a person, firm or corporation who, alone, jointly or severally with others, owns or has
an ownership interest in a dwelling, dwelling unit or rooming unit within the city.

PLUMBING CODE is the State of Minnesota Plumbing Code.

PLUMBING SYSTEM is all potable water supplies and distribution pipes, all plumbing fixtures
and traps and all drainage and vent pipes.

PREMISES is the dwelling and its land and all buildings thereon ad areas thereof.

REFUSE is all putrescible and nonputrescible waste solids including garbage and rubbish.
(Putrescible-Liable to undergo bacterial decomposition when in contact with air and moisture at
normal temperatures.)

RENT is a stated return or payment for the temporary possession of a dwelling, dwelling unit,
roominghouse, rooming unit, residential retreat center, bed and breakfast, or tourist home. The
return or payment may be money or service or property.

RESIDENTIAL RETREAT CENTER is a dwelling unit with living and sleeping quarters including
cooking facilities that is wholly rented to one (1) common party for the purpose of overnight
lodging for one (1) night or longer, but less than one (1) week.

ROOMINGHOUSE is a building or structure where sleeping accommodations are furnished to
the public as regular roomers for periods of one week or more and having 3+ units let to the
public. A roominghouse shall not have full kitchen facilities (e.g. hot plates, stoves, or ovens).
A maximum of one person shall inhabit each unit. Also known as a lodging house.

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ROOMING UNIT is a habitable room located in an operator-occupied dwelling or dwelling unit
and so arranged as to provide a private habitable unit used, or intended to be used, for living
and sleeping but not for cooking purposes, along with private or shared sanitation facilities. A
rooming unit is furnished to the public as regular roomers for periods of one week or more. Up
to two rooming units with occupancy of one person per unit are permitted per dwelling unit. Also
known as a sleeping room.

SAFETY is the condition of being reasonably free from danger and hazards, which may cause
injury or illness.

SUBSTANDARD BUILDING is any building where any condition exists that endangers the life,
limb, health, safety or welfare of the public or the occupants thereof as deemed by the Building
Official or Building Inspector.

TOURIST HOME is any building or part thereof, other than a hotel or motel, bed and breakfast,
residential retreat center, roominghouse or rooming unit, where sleeping accommodations are
provided to transient guests for up to 29 consecutive days for compensation.

TOURIST HOME – OWNER OCCUPIED is a tourist home located on a lot that is owned by and
includes the primary residence of a host or host family. The host or host family shall reside on
the lot during any period of guest stay.

TOURIST HOME – NON-OWNER OCCUPIED is a tourist home located on a lot where the
property owner does not occupy the premises during the rental period.

VARIANCE is a difference between that which is required or specified and that, which is
permitted.
            Ord. No. 4063 12/18/2017