A. "Affiliate" means an entity under common majority ownership or common control, whether that ownership or control is direct or indirect, with any other person or entity, including but not limited to a person or entity that majority owns or controls, or is majority owned or controlled by, any other person or entity.

B. "Building Permit Application Period" means the period following the date that an application for a building permit for repair, rehabilitation, or construction with respect to a Residential Unit is filed with the City through the date the Planning Department or its successor agency grants or denies that application, not to exceed one year. Notwithstanding the preceding sentence, if more than one building permit application is filed by or on behalf of one or more persons in the Owner’s Group for the same Residential Unit, the Building Permit Application Period shall mean only the applicable period following the date the first application is filed with the City by or on behalf of anyone in the Owner’s Group. In the case of an owner qualifying for the Disaster Period in subsection D, the Building Permit Application Period may be extended beyond one year if the owner makes a good faith effort, as determined by the building official, to obtain a building permit.

C. "Disaster Period" means the two-year period following the date that a Residential Unit was made uninhabitable or unusable due to fire, natural disaster, or other catastrophic event, except where a negligent, reckless or willful act or omission by the owner or agent of the owner contributed to or caused the Residential Unit to become uninhabitable or unusable due to fire, natural disaster or other catastrophic event.

D. "Homeowners’ Exemption Period" means the period during which a Residential Unit is the principal place of residence of any owner of that Residential Unit and for which such owner validly has claimed either the homeowners’ property tax exemption under Section 218 of the California Revenue and Taxation Code or the disabled veterans’ exemption under Section 205.5 of that Code, as those sections may be amended from time to time.

E. "Hotel" means any property registered under Section 7.36.060 of the Municipal Code and excludes any properties regulated under Chapter 23.314 of the Municipal Code.

F. "Lease Period" means the period during which any owner of a Residential Unit or any person in the Owner’s Group of that owner leases that Residential Unit to one or more tenants under a bona fide lease intended for occupancy, but not including any lease or rental of that Residential Unit to anyone in the Owner’s Group or to travelers, vacationers, or other transient occupants.

G. "Owner Death Period" means, with respect to a co-owner or decedent’s estate, heirs, or beneficiaries, the period during which a Residential Unit is unoccupied, uninhabited, or unused because of the death of any owner of a Residential Unit who was the sole occupant of that Residential Unit immediately prior to such owner’s death, provided that such period shall not exceed the longer of two years or the period during which the Residential Unit is subject to the authority of a probate court.

H. "Owner In Care Period" means the period during which a Residential Unit is unoccupied, uninhabited, or unused because the occupant of the Residential Unit who used that Residential Unit as their principal residence is residing in a hospital, long term or supportive care facility, medical care or treatment facility, or other similar facility.

I. "Owner’s Group" means for each owner of a Residential Unit, with respect to each Residential Unit, the owner, any current or former co-owner, and any Related Person or Affiliate of the owner or any current or former co-owner.

J. "Rehabilitation Period" means the two-year period following the date that the City issues a building permit for repair, or rehabilitation, with respect to a Residential Unit, provided that if the City issues multiple building permits to or for the benefit of one or more persons in the Owner’s Group for the same Residential Unit, the Rehabilitation Period shall mean only the two-year period following the issuance of the first building permit to or for the benefit of anyone in the Owner’s Group.

K. "Related Person" means a spouse, domestic partner, child, parent, or sibling.

L. "Residential Unit" means a house, an apartment, a group of rooms, or a single room that is designed as separate living quarters Separate living quarters are those in which the occupants live and eat separately from any other persons in the building and which have a kitchen and direct access from the outside of the building or through a common hall. For purposes of this Chapter, a Residential Unit shall not include a unit in a Hotel, a currently operational nursing home, residential care facility, or other similar facility, or any unit that is fully exempt from property tax under the welfare exemption under Section 214(g) of the California Revenue and Taxation Code, as may be amended from time to time.

M. "Vacancy Exclusion Period" means the Building Permit Application Period, Rehabilitation Period, Disaster Period, Homeowners’ Exemption Period, Lease Period, Owner Death Period, or Owner In Care Period.

N. "Vacant" means unoccupied, uninhabited, or unused, for more than 182 days, whether consecutive or nonconsecutive, in a calendar year. (Ord. 7849-NS § 1, 2022)