§ 598.01. Definitions

(A)

"Hotel/Motel" means any structure consisting of one or more buildings, with more than five sleeping rooms, that is kept, used, maintained, advertised, or held out to the public to be a place where sleeping accommodations are offered for pay to guests, including, but not limited to, such a structure denoted as a hotel, motel, motor hotel, lodge, motor lodge, bed and breakfast, or inn.

"Short-Term Rental" means any dwelling that is rented wholly or partly for a fee for less than thirty (30) consecutive days by persons other than the permanent occupant or owner from which the permanent occupant or owner receive monetary compensation.

(B)

"Hotel/Motel Operation" means the occupancy of any guestroom or use of any hotel/motel facility.

"Short-Term Rental Operation" means the occupancy of any room or dwelling of any short-term rental.

(C)

"Transient Guests" mean persons occupying a room or rooms for sleeping accommodations for less than thirty (30) consecutive days.

"Short-Term Rental Guests" means persons renting temporary lodging from a short-term rental host, or through a hosting platform on behalf of the short-term rental host, for less than thirty (30) consecutive days.

(D)

"Guestroom" means a room offered to the public for a fee that contains, at a minimum, provisions for sleeping.

"Primary Residence" means a dwelling(s) which is the usual place of return for housing as documented by at least two of the following: motor vehicle registration, driver's license, tax documents, lease copy or a utility bill. An owner or permanent occupant can only have one primary residence.

"Dwelling" means any building, structure, or unit, on the same tax parcel, sharing the same mailing address, which is occupied or intended for occupancy in whole or in part as a home, residence or sleeping place for one (1) or more persons.

(E)

"Owner" means a corporation, firm, partnership, association, organization and any other group acting as a unit, or a person who has legal title to any structure or premises with or without accompanying actual possession thereof, and shall include the duly authorized agent or attorney, a purchaser, devisee, fiduciary and any person having a vested or contingent interest in the premises in question.

"Permanent Occupants" means persons who reside in a dwelling more than 51% of the time during a calendar year, and the dwelling in which persons reside shall be referred to as their primary residence.

"Short-Term Rental Host" means the owner or permanent occupant of a short-term rental who offer the short-term rental for temporary lodging.

(F)

"Operator" means any person who works at a hotel/motel in a capacity to facilitate the offering of guestrooms to guests, including, but not limited to, front desk workers.

"Hosting Platform" means a person or entity in whatever form or format that facilitates, through advertising or any other means, a short-term rental booking transaction for accommodations between a short-term rental host and short-term rental guest, including, but not limited to, reservations and/or collection of payment for such accommodations on behalf of the short-term rental host.

(G)

"Manager" means the general manager, shift manager, or any person in any supervisory position at the hotel/motel.

(H)

"Employee" means any person who earns qualifying wages, commissions or other type of compensation from the hotel/motel.

(I)

"Calls for Service" means any and all calls, including but not limited to those to law enforcement and/or the fire department, when those calls:

(1)

result in a representative being dispatched or directed to the hotel/motel or short-term rental;

(2)

allege evidence of criminal activity;

(3)

result in an arrest, charge or citation; or

(4)

find an imminent threat to safety of person(s) or property.

Calls for service shall not include calls made by employees of the hotel/motel or short-term rental property itself as officers to notify the radio room of their location, commonly associated with Columbus Division of Police Directive 3.17 (IV)(A)(1)(a)(3).

(J)

"Calls for Service Ratio" means the number of calls for service divided by the number of rooms in service at the hotel/motel or short-term rental.

(K)

"Director" means the director of public safety or the director's authorized designee.

(L)

"Interception device" as used in this chapter refers to the definition found in Chapter 2933.51(D) of Revised Code.

(Ord. No. 1921-2015 , § 1, 11-16-2015; Ord. No. 2145-2018 , § 1, 7-30-2018; Ord. No. 0352-2019 , § 1, 2-4-2019)