HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council Ordinance 1988-13CITY OF PLYMOUTH
AN ORDINANCE RELATING TO ALARM SYSTEMS;
AMENDING SECTION 1155 OF THE PLYMOUTH
CITY CODE
The City Council of the City of Plymouth does ordain:
Section 1. Section 1155 of the Plymouth City Code is
amended to read as follows:
1155.01. Statement of Policy. The City Council of the
City of Plymouth deems it necessary to provide for the
special and express regulations of alarm systems which
are designed to signal the presence of a hazard requir-
ing urgent attention and to which public safety person-
nel are expected to respond, in order to protect the
public health, safety and welfare.
The City Council finds that the regulation of alarm
systems is necessary in order to reduce the increasing
frequency of false alarms in Plymouth. The great
number of and increasing frequency of these false
alarms requires intensive, time consuming efforts by
the Department of Public Safety and thereby distracts
from and reduces the level of services available to the
rest of the community. This diminishes the ability of
the City to promote the general health, welfare and
safety of the community. In consideration for the
necessity on the part of the City to provide numerous
public safety services to all segments of the communi-
ty, without an undue concentration of public services
in one area to work to the detriment of members of the
general public, it is hereby decided that the alarm
systems shall be regulated through the permit process
described below.
1155.03. Definitions. As used herein, unless other-
wise indicated, the following terms are defined as
follows. Subdivision 1. "Alarm System" sha}}-2
means an assembly of equipment and devices (or a single
device such as a solid state unit) arranged to signal
the presence of a hazard. For the purposes of this
ordinance, the alarm, when triggered, must be directly
connected to a central monitoring agency which then
notifies the police and/or fire departments of an
emergency to which public safety personnel must re-
spond, or may emit an audible signal which will require
urgent attention and to which public safety personnel
are expected to respond.
Subd. 2. "Alarm User" shall-ttK—a-n means the
person, firm, partnership, association, corporation,
company or organization of any kind on whose premises
an alarm system is maintained. "Alarm User" shall
lnelttde includes persons occupying dwelling units for
residential purposes. 1A}arm-i ' shall net-�rre3ttcle
persens-maintain#ng-alarm-spstems-gn-antemehlles-
Subd. 3. "False Alarm"
means any activation of an alarm system that results in
a response by the Public Safetv Department where an
emergency situation does not exist. "False Alarm
includes, but is not limited to, the activation of an
alarm system through mechanical failure, malfunction,
improper installation, or the negllgenee negligent use
or maintenance of the alarm system by its owner or
lessee a€ -ax- ai r system or of h}s by the owner's or
lessee's employees or agents. It "False Alarm" does
not include activation of the alarm by utility company
power outages or by climatic conditions such as torna-
does, lightning, earthquakes, other violent conditions
of nature, or any other conditions which are clearly
beyond the control of the alarm manufacturer, installer
er and owner. "False Alarm" does not include activa-
tion o£ an alarm system as the result of an effort or
order to upgrade, install, test, or maintain the
system, if the Public Safetv Director and. where
system are eacn notiried in advance of said upgrade,
installation, test or maintenance.
Subd. 4. "Fire alarm system" means an alarm
system desicxned, installed, or operated to prompt a
res
Subd. 4 5. "Person" shall -mean means any individ-
ual, partnership, corporation, association, cooperative
or other entity.
Subd. 6. "Police alarm system" means an alarm
system designed, installed, or operated to prompt a
response by the police department.
Subd. 5 7. "Calendar Year" shall --mean means
the period from January 1 through December 31 of each
year.
1155.05. Permits and Exemptions. Subdivision 1.
Permits. Effective January 1, 1989,
every alarm user wha;-dtx3g-trrs�-e€-a-a5enda
pear; e --than- -three -+34- else--po-1iee-al arms;
®r-r_^Fir&srbne_�}}-a}se- atm shall be required to
obtain an alarm user permit for each alarm system on
the alarm user's premises. Alarm user permits shall be
tems and
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ea+ender-pear-
Subd. 5 2. Exemptions. The provisions of this
chapter are not applicable to audible alarms affixed to
automobiles.
1155.06. Application Process. Subdivision 1. Initial
Application. Every applicant for an alarm permit shall
file with the Finance Director, on forms provided by
the Citv, an application statina:
a. the name, address and phone number of the
f7
b. a description of the property where it is
proposed to use an alarm system;
its location, street and number
d. how many separate alarm systems will be used;
e. a description of the type(s) of a.
tem(s) to be used, excluding name
number of the manufacturer (i.e.
Emeraencv. Medical Emeraencv. Fire):
f. the name of the person or company who will
install or, for systems installed prior to
January 1, 1989 , who did install the alarm
system at the location; and
g. the name, address and phone number of one
person or company who will be available to be
contacted in the event of an alarm activa-
tion. In the event the name, mailing address
or phone number of the person to be contacted
changes, the appant
licmust supply corrected
information to the Public Safety Director and
Finance Director within five days of the
change.
At the time of filing an application, the applicant
must pay all permit fees required by this section.
Upon receipt of all applicable fees, the application
becomes a temporary permit, pending review and approval
Subd. 2.
without filina a new
on the originai appiicatior
Subd. 3. Reissued Permits
t has been revoked may obtz
user may renew an
uired permit fee and
rovided the informa-
still accurate.
An alarm user whose
a reissued permit by
d and by satisfying
the provisions of this section. A new application is
not required, provided that the information on the
original application is still accurate.
Subd. 4. Review of Permit. The Public Safety
Director shall review the issuance, reissuance, and
renewal of all alarm user permits.
1155.07. False Alarms;-Rec�u�exieats----13aSi�s
Automatic Revocation. Subdivision 1. Phe---Prib14e
6a€etp-H}�eete�-xray;-at-hos-d#se�et�ea;-�egn4�e-a-€apse
alarm--X� -t
Pxb��e-�a-f-e•L-y---�}i�eettrr-,--w4th4x- a-t-�.xee--ge��od-tel--o--he
speer€}eel-hp-the-Pnh�3e-Sa€etp-Bieeete�- �€-the-Pxh��e
eeen��ed-at-ata-address;--the--aim--tcse-r- a�-hhat-address
B� �e a to �-te-exp-la3x-lie- e�*s� orf--L�te-alarm - a e t��+at � ex-
lt-the-Pt�hl4e-Sa€etp-Bl�eete�-dete�xilses-that-the-a�a�m
fsas the
a�a�m-t* �Yte--alarm-wi-3� s3ofi--lie-eo�sted-�-a-€apse
a�aem- at-a���ess: Revocation; Reissued Permits.
A false police or fire alarm will result in automatic
revocation of the applicable alarm user permit, unless
the permit is reissued in accordance with this
4
subdivision. When the Public Safety Director deter-
mines that a false police or fire alarm has occurred at
an address, the Public Safety Director shall notify the
alarm user of that determination. The alarm user's
s
of the date or the notice, the alarm user submits the
reauired permit fee to the Finance Director or estab-
a
for that the alarm activation was not a "false alarm"
within the meanina of this section.
Subd. 2. grade; -a-1-ax-frr-and
i€--the--Pttbl€e--S-a•f-e€y--D-i-,fir-- i�-q-i�err-xot�.ee--#�
ad�anee-e€-said-t�ggrade;-instal}atieny-€est-and-mainte-
nanee- The Public Safety Director shall treat a false
alarm that occurs during the ten-day period for reissu-
ance of an alarm user permit as an additional reissued
permit. For each such false alarm. the alarm user
shall pay the permit fee Tor a reissued permit as
Subd. 3. Conditions for Reissuance. As a condi-
tion for reissuing an alarm user permit revoked under
this subsection, the Public Safety Director may require
that the alarm user provide the Public Safety Director
with evidence that the alarm system has been properly
serviced and that its deficiencies have been corrected.
1155.08. Permits Nontransferrable; Duration. All
alarm user permits expire at the end of the calendar
year, unless otherwise revoked. Alarm user permits are
not transferable from one person to another or from one
ocation to another.
1155.09. Prohibitions. Subdivision 1. Alarm Systems
Utilizinc Taped or Prerecorded Messages. No person
shall Lay install, monitor, or use and possess an
operative alarm which utilizes taped or prerecorded
messages which deliver a telephone alarm message to the
police or fire department.
1155.11. Permit Fees. Subdivision 1. Annual Permit
Fee. The annual fee for an alarm user's permit shall
be: Police - €i€ty twenty-five dollars ($50-0e
$25.00) , Fire - twenty-five dollars
(05078e $25.00). The annual fee shall be waived if
the permit is obtained during the month of December of
the preceding year.
Subd. 2. Alarm-r�ser1s-gerrnits-shall-exgire-en-the
las €-dad-rtr&-eeeh--eakenditr-yea-r.---A-1-err-itser6Ls--permits
shall-tte+--},-r ui>aecl-in- kke--r� -e-a-l�Td-ant,--y&ar-nntll
5
there--awe--mc r-&- than --tlrrt�. -F3}-sa1se-ve,14,t, t --alarms -er
mere --t ian--ene--F1-)---fBise--€ire--e-1-alHa--repeeteel--at--the
aIarm--t*-s--addr"t--d- i -tr4-nT-+die--rre>et-- f-�- e Tk dm ti -pear:
Fees Schedules for Reissued Permits. The fee for each
alarm user's permit that is reissued during the same
calendar vear shall be determined accordina to the
a. Reissued Permit for Police Alarm Svstem
b. Reissued Permit for Fire Alarm System.
First reissued permit ' ' ' ' ' ' '
eauent
1155.13. Revocation and Suspension of Permit. Subdi-
vision 1. Basis for Revocation or Suspension. In
addition to the automatic revocation process described
in Seet}en--X155-95 Subsection 1155.07,1 the Public
Safety Director may suspend or revoke any alarm user
permit issued pursuant to this ordinance if the Public
Safety Director finds that any of the following eeeur
has occurred:
(a) That any provision or condition of this
ordinance has been violated by an alarm user
or his agents.
(b) That an alarm system has actuated an exces-
sive number of false alarms.
(c) That the alarm user has knowingly made false
statements in or regarding his application
for an alarm user's permit.
(d) That the alarm user has failed to correct or
remove ;--w-rt�i-i---a--reaserral9�e-tiros, viola-
tions of this ordinance a€ter--reeerpt--o-f
within the time period specified by the
Public Safety Director in an oral or written
notice to de -se the alarm user.
(e) That the continued effectiveness of the alarm
user permit; constitutes a substantial threat
N
to the public peace, health, safety or
welfare.
Subd. 2. Investigation. All alleged violations
defined above shall be investigated by the Public
Safety Department. The alarm user shall be given
notice of the proposed revocation e€ or suspension and
be provided an opportunity to informally present
evidence to the Public Safety Director prior to the
final decision on revocation or suspension. Anpene
ag���e�e�-bp-tke-dee�sien-a€-tke-Pt�H��e-Ss€etp-B#�eete�
t�tap-apgeal-that-deeis�en-te-tke-E�tp-Eeenei�:
Subd. 3. Conditions. The Public Safety Director
may impose reasonable conditions for the reactivation
of a suspended alarm user permit or the reissuance of a
revoked alarm user permit.
Subd. 4. Reactivation or Reissuance. A suspended
permit will be reactivated at the end of the period of
suspension or upon satisfaction of all conditions
imposed under this section, whichever is later, and
without payment of a reissued permit fee. An alarm
user whose permit has been revoked must apply for a
reissued permit in accordance with this section.
1155.14. Right to Notice and Appeal. Subdivision 1.
Notice. Where notice of suspension, automatic revoca-
tion, or other revocation is recuired to be given to an
by certitieo mail to the alarm user's last known
address. The notice shall inform the alarm user of:
the action to be taken on the permit; the conditions,
if any, for reissuance or reactivation of the alarm
user's permit; the alarm user's right to an informal
hearing before the Public Safety Director; and, the
alarm user's richt to appeal the Public Safetv Direc-
s
[a
Subd. 2. Appeal. Anyone aggrieved by a decision
of the Public Safety Director to suspend or revoke an
alarm user permit may appeal that decision to the City
Council by filing a written request for an appeal with
the City Clerk. The written request must be filed
within 10 days after the decision from which the appeal
is taken.
1155.15. Penalties. Subdivision 1. Any alarm user
who continues to use an alarm system after receiving
notice of revocation or suspension by the Public Safety
Director is guilty of a misdemeanor.
7
Subd. 2. Any person required by this ordinance to
obtain an alarm user's permit who knowingly fails to do
so is guilty of a misdemeanor.
Sec. 2. This ordinance will take effect on January 1,
1989.
ATTEST:
1-Itaurlie Brandt, City Clerk
C/0066OR03.G48
//".1, ,. (,-
V r it Schneider, Mayor
Published: Plymouth Post 4-14-88.
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