New Hyde Park, N.Y., Code of Ordinances ch. 139 (eCode360 ed. 2026) § 139-3

For the purpose of this chapter, unless the context requires otherwise, the following definitions shall apply: ABANDONED VEHICLE Any vehicle which has been cited in a written notice issued by the Building Department, the Board of Trustees or any other duty authorized agent of the Village, for a violation of the provisions of Subsection A or B of § 139-39 of this chapter, and which, for more than seven days following the date of such notice, continues to be stored, parked or otherwise maintained in violation of any order or directive to cure the offending condition or remove such vehicle as set forth in such notice. ACCESSORY BUILDING OR USE A subordinate building or use customarily incidental to and located on the same lot occupied by the main building or use. ALTERATION As applied to a building or structure, any change, whether exterior or interior, whatsoever. APARTMENT OR SUITE A room or suite of two or more rooms occupied or intended to be occupied as the home or residence of an individual, family or household. APPROVED Approved by the Building Inspector of the Village. APPROVED MATERIAL AND CONSTRUCTION Material and construction approved by the Building Inspector of the Village. BASEMENT That space of a building that is partly below grade, which has more than 1/2 of its height, measured from floor to ceiling, above the average established finished grade of the ground adjoining the building. BATHROOM An enclosed space containing one or more water closets. It may also contain additional plumbing fixtures, such as a lavatory, bathtub or shower or other fixtures serving similar purposes. BOARDER One who rents a room in or a portion of a private residence for living purposes with no cooking facilities in the room or portion rented. BUSINESS UNIT A building used for business purposes, including but not limited to shopping centers, supermarkets, retail stores, discount houses, warehouses, manufacturing or fabrication plants, gasoline service stations, public garages, motor vehicle repair shops or other business uses. CELLAR That space of a building that is partly or entirely below grade, which has more than 1/2 of its height, measured from floor to ceiling, below the average established finished grade of the ground adjoining the building. COURT A required open and occupied space on the same lot and enclosed on at least three sides by walls of a building. DEBRIS Any garbage, litter, used automotive parts, construction waste, refuse or other solid waste. DWELLING Any building which is wholly or partly used or arranged, designed or intended to be occupied or used for living or sleeping by one or more human occupants. DWELLING, ONE-FAMILY A building containing not more than one dwelling unit occupied exclusively for residential purposes. DWELLING, TWO-FAMILY A building containing two dwelling units occupied exclusively for residential purposes by families living independently of the other. DWELLING UNIT A living unit containing two or more habitable rooms with provisions for living, cooking, eating, sanitary and sleeping facilities arranged for the use of one family. EXIT A way of departure from the interior of a building or structure to the exterior at street or grade, including doorways, passageways, hallways, corridors, stairways, ramps, fire escapes and all other elements necessary for egress or escape. FAMILY Parents, grandparents, great grandparents, children, brothers and sisters, whether natural or adopted, living and cooking together on the premises as a single housekeeping unit. GARAGE, COMMERCIAL A building or part thereof, other than a private or private residential garage, designed or intended and lawfully used for the temporary storage and contemporaneous repair, servicing, alteration or other care or maintenance of motor vehicles for a profit. GARAGE, PRIVATE A detached accessory building or attached part or portion of a main building, on a nonresidentially zoned parcel of land, designed or intended for use, or capable of use, for the sheltered parking and temporary storage of motor vehicles of the occupants of the main building or building group to which the garage is accessory or forms a part, and in which no service, occupation, business or other commercial activity is carried on or conducted. GARAGE, PRIVATE RESIDENTIAL A nonhabitable accessory building, or that nonhabitable portion attached to and forming a part of the dwelling or multiple dwelling, on a residentially zoned parcel of land, designed and intended for use, or capable of use, for the sheltered parking and temporary storage of one or more passenger automobiles and other vehicles incidental to the residential use and occupancy of the premises. GARBAGE Also known as trash, refuse, or rubbish, is discarded material that is no longer wanted or needed. This includes items like food waste, packaging, yard clippings, and other household discards. HABITABLE FLOOR AREA In a dwelling, those rooms occupied or capable of being occupied by one or more persons for living, eating and/or sleeping purposes; on the first floor of such dwelling it shall be construed to mean all finished floor area having a clear headroom of 71/2 feet or more, including stairwells; on the second floor, it shall be construed to mean all finished or unfinished floor area having a clear headroom of 71/2 feet or more for a minimum horizontal measurement of seven feet, with sidewalls of not less than 51/2 feet in height. INFESTATION The presence of insects, rodents, vermin or other pests. JUNK VEHICLE Any vehicle, including but not limited to a motor vehicle, a motor home, a camper or RV (recreational vehicle), an ATV (off-road all-terrain vehicle), a boat or other watercraft, and any type or kind of towable trailer, which is in such a noticeably wrecked, damaged, dismantled or partially dismantled condition, or in such other observable state of physical or mechanical deterioration or disrepair, as to actually or apparently render such vehicle incapable of legal use and/or safe, proper and reasonable operation upon the public streets and highways, upon the public waterways, or upon public lands, as the case might be. KITCHEN A space of 60 square feet or more in floor area, located in a dwelling or other structure, and designed or intended or actually so used for the preparation and cooking or warming of food. KITCHENETTE A space of less than 60 square feet in floor area, located in a dwelling or other structure, and designed and intended or actually so used for the preparation and cooking or warming of food. LOT Also means plot, tract, premises or parcel of land, with or without buildings or structures located thereon, as surveyed and apportioned for sale or other purposes. MIXED OCCUPANCY Occupancy of a building or structure in part for one use and in part for another use not customarily accessory or incidental to the other. MOBILE HOME A structure originally manufactured as a movable living unit. MULTIPLE DWELLING A dwelling which is designed or intended to be occupied or is occupied as a temporary or permanent residence or home of three or more families living independently of each other. NONHABITABLE ROOMS Rooms within a dwelling, such as bathrooms, water closet compartments, laundries, serving and storage pantries, corridors, cellars and similar spaces, that are not used frequently or during extended periods. PLUMBING SYSTEM The water supply system, the drainage system, the vent system, fixtures and traps, including their respective connections, devices and appurtenances, within the property lines of the premises. POTABLE WATER Water which is approved for drinking, culinary and domestic purposes. PREMISES The same as "lot." PRIVATE DWELLING A one- or two-family dwelling occupied exclusively for residence purposes by one or two families, respectively, as defined in this section. PUBLIC SPACE Space within a building which is dedicated to or for a public use, such as a lobby, lounge, reception hall, meeting or conference room, recreation or lecture room, dining or banquet room, swimming pool or other similar public gathering places. REFUSE All cardboard, plastic, metal or glass food containers, wastepaper, rags, sweepings, small pieces of wood, excelsior, rubber, leather and similar waste material that ordinarily accumulates around a home, business or industry. SEWAGE Liquid waste containing animal or vegetable matter in suspension or solution and which may include industrial wastes and liquids containing chemicals. STORAGE YARD A fully fenced and screened, open-air, off-street lot or portion of a lot lawfully used for the temporary storage of junk vehicles or other motor vehicles awaiting service or repair, in connection with and incidental to a towing business licensed under, and conforming with, the regulations of Chapter 181 of the Village Code. STRUCTURE A combination of materials, other than a building, to form a construction that is safe and stable, and includes, among other things, stadiums, gospel and circus tents, reviewing stands, platforms, stagings, observation towers, radio towers, sheds, storage bins, walls, fences and display signs. The term "structure" shall be construed as if followed by the words "or part thereof." TENANT A person who rents a portion of a private residence with cooking facilities therein. UNOCCUPIED HAZARD Any building or part thereof situated within one or more residential zoning districts or within 1,000 feet of any residential zoning district, which remains unoccupied for a period of more than 90 days with either doors, windows or other openings broken, removed, boarded or sealed up or any building under construction upon which little or no construction work has been performed for a period of more than 90 days. VEHICLE, ELECTIVELY INOPERABLE Any motor vehicle, trailer or other vehicle which, though neither a junk vehicle or a legally inoperable vehicle as defined elsewhere in this section, is nonetheless continuously parked or stored upon a lot or parcel of real property without its intervening use and operation off the premises. VEHICLE, LEGALLY INOPERABLE Any motor vehicle, trailer or other vehicle required to be periodically registered and/or inspected for lawful operation or transport upon the public highways and which does not have affixed or attached thereto a current and valid registration sticker, inspection sticker or license plates, or any combination thereof, as may be legally required by any federal, state or local law in order for such vehicle to be lawfully used and operated upon the public streets and highways. VENTILATION Supply and removal of air to and from a space by natural or mechanical means. YARD An open space on the same lot which contains a building and located between the building line and the lot line which the particular building line faces.