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For purposes of this chapter, the following words and phrases shall have the meanings given below:

(a) Accessory dwelling unit. For the purposes of this section, an accessory dwelling unit is any structure consisting of one or more habitable rooms intended or designed for single-family occupancy with all basic facilities for living and sleeping which is situated or is to be situated in a rural area to which the provisions of this chapter are applicable and which is accessory to an existing single-family residence on the same property.

(b) Detached bedroom. A separate accessory structure without kitchen or sanitation facilities, designed for and used primarily as a sleeping facility in conjunction with a main structure which includes kitchen and sanitation facilities.

(c) Graywater. As defined in Section 611-2, “graywater” means untreated wastewater that has not been contaminated by any toilet discharge; has not been affected by infectious, contaminated, or unhealthy bodily wastes; and does not present a threat from contamination by unhealthful processing, manufacturing, or operating wastes. “Graywater” includes wastewater from bathtubs, showers, bathroom washbasins, clothes washing machines, and laundry tubs, but does not include wastewater from kitchen sinks or dishwashers. Graywater as defined above has the same meaning as “gray water,” “grey water,” and/or “greywater.”

(d) Owner-occupied rural dwelling. Any structure consisting of one or more habitable rooms intended or designed for single-family occupancy with all basic facilities for living and sleeping which is situated or is to be situated in a rural area to which the provisions of this chapter are applicable and which is owned by one or more members of the family occupying the structure.

(e) Owner-built. A structure owned and constructed by any person or family who acts as the general contractor for, or as the provider of, all or the major part of the labor expended to build the structure.

(f) Rural or rural area. That part of Humboldt County which is outside boundaries of any incorporated city, a community services district, a sphere of influence as designated by the Humboldt County Local Agency Formation Commission (or a city planning area established pursuant to Section 65300 of the Government Code in the absence of a designated city sphere of influence), or outside of an urban limit line as designated in the Humboldt County Land Use Plans. “Rural” or “rural area,” for the purposes of this chapter, also includes any area which is within a community services district or sphere of influence which is located beyond the reasonably projected availability of water or sewer services, and which is zoned to permit residential use either as a principal use or with a conditional use permit.

The written determination by a city or community services district as to whether or not community services will be available to any parcel in the foreseeable future, based upon reasonable projections, shall be used as the primary basis for deciding if land for which a permit is sought pursuant to this chapter is located beyond the reasonably projected availability of community services.

(g) Sound structural condition. “Sound structural condition” means a structure in which:

(1) Any plumbing, any fireplace, wood stove or other source of heat, and electrical wiring, has been built in conformance with and conforms to the applicable codes and has been and is maintained in a good condition so as to present no unreasonable risk of health and safety; and

(2) The fireplace or chimney does not list or bulge and has not settled due to defective material or deterioration, and in which fireplaces and chimneys are of sufficient size to carry imposed loads with safety.

(h) Substandard building. A structure in which there exists any condition that abnormally endangers the life, limb, health, or safety of anyone within or outside of such structure. (Ord. 1644, § 2, 7/17/1984; Ord. 2656, § 1, 10/27/2020)