§ 54-26. Definitions.

The following terms used in this article have the meanings indicated in this section unless the context of the article clearly requires otherwise:

Board means the board of commissioners of Halifax County.

Brown goods means furniture or other household items, including upholstered pieces and mattresses.

Cart means a roll-out container for the storage of municipal solid waste or recyclable materials furnished by the county or the county's contractor as defined in this article.

Collection means the act of removing municipal solid waste or recyclable materials from a point of generation to a central storage point or to a site for disposal or recycling.

Construction and demolition waste or debris means solid waste resulting solely from construction, remodeling, repair, or demolition operations on pavement, buildings, or other structures but does not include inert debris, land clearing debris or yard debris.

Convenience center means a drop off site for non-commercial residential yard waste, brown goods, white goods, electronics and tires not resulting from commercial activity. Municipal solid waste may not be dropped off at convenience centers.

County means Halifax County, North Carolina.

County's contractor means a person who has been granted an exclusive contract by the county for the collection, transportation and/or disposal of municipal solid waste and recyclable materials pursuant to section 54-29 of this article.

County disposal facilities means the county solid waste facility currently located 921 Liles Road, Littleton, N.C., which includes a municipal solid waste transfer station, construction and demolition debris landfill, yard waste processing facility, and collection points for white goods, brown goods, electronics and tires.

Curbside means the location adjacent to but no more than ten feet from the edge of the roadway providing access to the property of a municipal solid waste and recyclable materials collection customer, unless the director determines that the location of a cart collection site for a particular customer should be in a different location for safe and efficient collection.

Customer means the beneficiary of municipal solid waste and recyclable materials collection services provided by the county or its contractor as described in section 54-29 of this article.

Director means the Halifax County Public Utilities Director.

Dwelling or dwelling unit means a house, residence, mobile home, apartment, multi-family structure or similar permanent structure that is suitable for human habitation. A tent, camper or similar temporary structure is not a dwelling or dwelling unit.

Eligible commercial establishment means any commercial entity, such as, but not limited to, businesses and commercial establishments, schools, churches, rest homes, nursing homes, country clubs, governmental units, and professions which, due to the limited amount of municipal solid waste generated, are capable of being reasonably served by the collection services provided by the county under section 54-29 of this article. The determination of whether a commercial establishment is eligible for collection services shall be in the sole discretion of the director or her/his designee based upon criteria developed by the director and which may be amended from time to time.

Fiscal year means the period of time from July 1 of any given calendar year through June 30 of the following calendar year.

Hazardous waste means a solid waste, or combination of solid wastes, which because of its quantity, concentration, or physical, chemical or infectious characteristics may:

(1)

Cause, or significantly contribute to an increase in mortality or an increase in serious irreversible, or incapacitating reversible illness; or

(2)

Pose a substantial present or potential hazard to human health or the environment when improperly treated, stored, transported, or disposed of, or otherwise managed.

Improved property [effective until July 1, 2018] means all real property upon which is located a residence, mobile home, apartment, multi-family structure, or other dwelling or dwelling unit, whether occupied or unoccupied. For purposes of this article, real property on which a dwelling or dwelling unit is located will be deemed to be improved property unless the dwelling or dwelling unit is both unoccupied and unfit for human habitation. Provided, for purposes of this article, if a mobile home is listed as personal property for ad valorem taxes purposes by some person other than the real property owner, then the real property on which the mobile home is located shall not be considered improved property, but the mobile home owner shall be assessed with the fees established under this article.

Improved property [effective July 1, 2018] means all real property upon which is located a residence, mobile home, apartment, multi-family structure, or other dwelling or dwelling unit, whether occupied or unoccupied. For purposes of this article, if a mobile home is listed as personal property for ad valorem taxes purposes then the real property on which the mobile home is located shall be considered improved property. For purposes of this article, real property on which a dwelling or dwelling unit is located will be deemed to be improved property unless the dwelling or dwelling unit is both unoccupied and unfit for human habitation.

Landfill means a disposal facility or part of a disposal facility where waste is placed in or on land and which is not a land treatment facility, a surface impoundment, an injection well, a hazardous waste long term storage facility or a surface storage facility.

Municipal solid waste means any solid waste resulting from the operation of residential, commercial, industrial, governmental, or institutional establishments that would normally be collected, processed, and disposed of through a public or private solid waste management service. Municipal solid waste does not include hazardous waste, sludge, industrial waste managed in a solid waste management facility owned and operated by the generator of the industrial waste for management of that waste, solid waste from mining or agricultural operations, construction or demolition waste or debris, white goods, brown goods, tires or yard waste.

Person means an individual, corporation, company, association, partnership, unit of local government, state agency, federal agency or other legal entity.

Recyclable materials means those materials which are capable of being recycled and which would otherwise be processed or disposed of as municipal solid waste.

Recycling means any process by which municipal solid waste, or materials which would otherwise become municipal solid waste, are collected, separated, or processed, and reused or returned to use in the form of raw materials or products.

Transfer station means the collection point for municipal solid waste prior to its transfer for ultimate disposal at an appropriate landfill or other final disposal facility handling municipal solid waste.

Unfit for human habitation means a dwelling or dwelling unit where one or more of the following conditions exist:

(1)

Interior walls or vertical studs which seriously list, lean or buckle to such an extent as to render the dwelling unsafe.

(2)

Supporting member or members which show 33 percent or more damage or deterioration, or non-supporting, enclosing or outside walls or covering which shows 50 percent or more of damage or deterioration.

(3)

Floors or roofs which have improperly distributed loads, which are overloaded or which have insufficient strength to be reasonably safe for the purpose used.

(4)

Such damage by fire, wind or other causes as to render the dwelling unsafe.

(5)

Dilapidation, structural defects, decay, unsanitary conditions, uncleanliness, or disrepair which are dangerous to the health, safety or welfare of occupants of the dwelling or other people.

(6)

Inadequate facilities for egress in case of fire or panic.

(7)

Defects increasing the hazards of fire, accident or other calamities.

(8)

Lack of adequate ventilation, light, heating or sanitary facilities to such extent as to endanger the health, safety or general welfare of occupants or other people.

(9)

Lack of proper electrical, heating or plumbing facilities constituting a health or safety hazard, except for lack of electrical, heating or plumbing facilities resulting from non-payment of a utilities or fuel bill.

(10)

Lack of connection to a potable water supply and/or to the public sewer or other approved sewage disposal system, except for lack of connection resulting from non-payment of a water or sewer bill.

(11)

Any other condition that exists in a dwelling or dwelling unit that renders it dangerous or injurious to the health, safety, or welfare of occupants of the dwelling or the occupants of neighboring dwellings.

Unincorporated areas of the county means those areas not located within the corporate limits of any municipality in the county.

White goods means any and all household or commercial machines or appliances.

Yard waste means leaves, limbs and grass clippings resulting from non-commercial residential lawn care and yard maintenance, but not stumps, rocks, dirt, construction materials or similar yard waste resulting from commercial landscaping activities.

(Res. of 5-1-17(1); Res. of 6-5-17(1), §§ 1, 2)