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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council Ordinance 1982-03CITY OF PLYMOUTH ORDINANCE NO. 82-03 AN ORDINANCE RELATING TO BU SINFSS AND TRADE REGULATIONS: AMENDING THE CITY CODE BY ADDING SECTION 1155 RELATING TO ALARM SYSTEMS THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PLYMOUTH HEREBY ORDAINS: Section 1. Plymouth City Code is amended by adding a new section to Chapter XI to read as follows: Section 1155 - Alarm Systems 1155.01. Statement of Policy. The City Council of the Citv of Plvmouth deems it necessary to provide for the special and express regulations of alarm systems which are designed to signal the presence of a hazard renuir- ing urgent attention and to which public safety personnel are expected to respond, in order to protect the public health, safety and welfare. .i The City Council finds that the regulation of alarm systems is necessary in order to reduce the increasinq frequency of false alarms in P[vmouth. The great number of and increasing frequency of these false alarms requires intensive, time consuming efforts by the Department of Public Safty and i 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 of provide numerous public safety services to all segments of the community, without an undue concentraion 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 he rent]- lated through the permit process described below: 1155.03. Definitions. As used herein, unless otherwise ineeicated, the following terms are defined as follows: Subd. 1. "Alarm System" shall mt_an an assembly of equipment and devices (or a single device such as a solid state uinit) 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 respond, or may emit an audible signal which will require urgent attention and to which n-.jhlic safety personnel are expected to respond. Subd. 2. "Alarm User" shall mean the person, firm, partnership, assocl- ation, corporation, company or organlzatton of any kind on whore premises an alarm system is mdintatned. "Alarm User" shall Include persons occupying dwelling units for residential purposes. "Alarm i►ser" shall not Include persons maintaininq alarm systems In automn'>iles. Subd. 3. "False Alarms" shall mean the activation of an alarm system through mechanical failure, malfunction, improper installation, or the negligence of the owner or lessee of an alarm system or of his employees or agents. It does not include activation of the alarm by utility company power outages or by climatic_ conditions such as tornadoes, lightning, earthquakes, other violent conditions of nature, or any other conditions which are clearly beyond the control of the alarm manufacturer, installer or owner. Subd. 4. "Person" shalt mean any individual, partnership, corporation, association, cooperative or other entity. Subd. 5. "Calendar Year" shall mean the period January 1 through i December 31 of each year. 1155.05. Permits and Exemptions. Subd. 1. Permits. Effective April 15, 1982, every alarm user who, during the course of a calendar year, incurs more than three (3) false police alarms, or more than one (1) false fire alarm shall he required to obtain an alarm user permit. i Subd. 2.. Review of Permit. The Public Safety nirector shall review the issuance of all alarm permits. Subd. 3. Process for Issuance of Permit. Upon receipt and determination of the fourth false polio• alarm report, or the second false fire alarm report at an address, the Public Safety Director, after review, shall notify the City Cler', who shall then assess the alarm user for an alarm user's permit. The assessment invoice shall be sent by certified mail. The alarm user must submit the required permit fee to the City Clerk within ten (10) workinq days after receipt of the assessment invoice in order to continue to use his alarm system. Any subsequent false police or fire alarms at that address shall automatically revoke that permit and the process imist then be repeated. This process shall he repeated for each and every false alarm in excess of three (3) false pollee alarm-, and In excess of one (1) false fire alarm durinq each calendar year. Subd. 4. Duration of Permit. All permits, unless otherwise revoked, will expire at the end of each calendar year. Subd. 5. Exemptions. The provisions of this chapter are not applicable to audible alarms affixed to automobiles. 1155.07. Regi.iirements and Duties. Subd. 1. False Alarm Reports. The Puhl.lc Safety Director may, at his discretion, require a false alarm report to be filed by the alarm user with the Public Safety Director, within a time period to he specified by the Ptahlic Safety Director. If the P011 c Safety Director determines that a false alarm has occurred at an address, the alarm user at that address may submit a written report to the Public Safety Director to explain the cause of the alarm activation. If the Public Safety Director determines that the alarm was caused by conditions beyond the control of the alarm riser, the alarm wiII not be counted as a fal.se alarm at that address. Subd. 2. "False Alarms" will be excused if they are the result of an effort or order to upgrade, install, test, or maintain an alarm system and if the Public Safety Director is given notice in advance of said upgrade, installation, test and maintenance. 1155.09. Prohibitions. Subd. 1. "Alarm Systems Utilizing Taping or Prerecorded Messaoes." No person shall install, monitor, or use and possess an operative alarm which utilizes taped or prerecordzd messages which deliver a telephone alarm message to the police or fire department. 1155.11 Permit Fees. Subd. 1. The fee for alarm user's permits shall he: Police - fifty dollars ($50.00), Fire - one hundred fifty dollars ($150.00). Subd. 2. Alarm user's permits shall expire on the last day of each calendar year. Alarm user's permits shall riot be required in the next calendar year until there are more than three (3) false police alarms or more than one (1) f<Jse fire alarm reported at the alarm user's address durinq the next calendar year. 1155.13 Revocation and Suspension of Permit. Subd. 1. Basis for revocation or suspension. In addition to the automatic revocation process described in Section 1155.05, 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 occur: 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 excessive 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, within a reasonable period, violations of this ordinance after receipt of notice to do so; e. That the continued effectiveness of the alarm user permit, constitutes a substantial threat to the public peace, health, safety or welfare.