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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2005-11-7034555 ORDINANCE NO. 2005-11=7034 AN ORDINANCE REPEALING ARTICLE III, "ALARM SYSTEMS," OF CHAPTER 38, "EMERGENCY SYSTEMS," AND CREATING ARTICLE III, "SECURITY AND FIRE ALARMS," OF CHAPTER 38, "EMERGENCY SYSTEMS," OF THE CODE OF ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF PADUCAH, KENTUCKY BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY OF PADUCAH, KENTUCKY: SECTION 1. This ordinance hereby repeals Article III, "Alarm Systems," of Chapter 38, "Emergency Systems," of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Paducah, Kentucky, in its entirety. SECTION 2. That Article III, "Security and Fire Alarms," of Chapter 38, "Emergency Systems," of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Paducah, Kentucky, is hereby created to read as follows: I. Purpose (A) The purpose of this ordinance is to encourage the proper installation, maintenance, service and usage of security and fire alarms by alarm users and alarm related businesses and services. The ordinance is necessary to reduce police and fire emergency responses to false alarms and/or alarm malfunctions. (B) This ordinance governs security and fire alarm systems, requires permits after three false alarm notifications, establishes fees, provides for penalties for violations, creates a system of administration, and sets conditions for suspension or loss of permit. II. Definitions (A) Alarm Notification means a notification intended to summon police of fire personnel of the City of Paducah that is designed either to be initiated purposefully by a person or by an alarm system that responds to a stimulus characteristic of unauthorized intrusion or of smoke, heat or fire. (B) Alarm Site means a single premise or location served by an alarm system or systems. (C) Alarm System means a device or system that emits, transmits or relays a signal intended to summon, or that would reasonably be expected to summon, police or fire services of the City of Paducah. The meaning of alarm system includes a local alarm, but does not include: (1) An alarm installed on a vehicle unless the vehicle is permanently located at a site; or (2) An alarm designed to alert only the inhabitants of a premise that does not have a local alarm. (D) Designated Authority means: (1) The Chief of Police or an authorized representative for a security alarm. (2) The Fire Chief or an authorized representative for a fire alarm. (E) False Alarm Notification (FAN): (1) A FAN for a security alarm means the activation of any alarm that results in the response of the police department and when the responding officer finds no evidence of a criminal offense or attempted criminal offense. 556 (2) A FAN for a fire alarm means the activation of any alarm which results in the response of the fire department caused by the negligence or intentional misuse of the system by the owner or his employees, servants or agents; or any other activation not caused by heat, smoke or fire, exclusive of a fire alarm if the alarm is activated due to malicious causes beyond the control of the owner. (3) Excluded from these definitions include: (a) Alarms occurring during electrical storms, hurricanes, tornados, blizzards and other "acts of God"; where there is clear evidence of physical damage to the system; or (b) The intermittent disruption or disruption of the telephone circuits beyond the control of the alarm company and/or alarm user; or (c) Electrical power disruption or failure in excess of two hours; or (d) Alarms caused by a failure of the equipment at the monitoring company with written verification. (4) At the discretion of the designated authority, multiple false alarm/alarm malfunction notifications in a 24-hour period of time may be counted as only one FAN. (F) Local Alarm means an alarm system that emits a signal at an alarm site that is audible or visible from the exterior of the structure. (G) Permit Holder means the person designated in the permit application that is responsible for: (1) Responding to alarms, (2) Giving access to the site, (3) Proper maintenance and operation of the alarm system, and (4) Payment of required fees (H) Person means an individual, corporation, partnership, association, organization or similar entity. (I) Special Trunkline means a telephone line leading into the Paducah -McCracken County Emergency Communication Center utilized primarily for receiving emergency messages that originate from automatic protection devices and are transmitted directly or through an alarm monitoring company. III. Permit required; application; fee; transferability; false statements (A) No permit is required for an alarm site that has less than three false alarm notifications (FANS) within a 12 -month period. (B) Upon written notification from the City of Paducah of three false alarm notifications (FANs) within a 12 -month period, the owner, manager, or other person responsible for the alarm site shall apply for an alarm permit and submit a $25.00 permit fee within 30 days of receipt of written notification. (C) Once a permit is required for the operation of an alarm system at an alarm site, it is required thereafter as long as the alarm system is in operation. (D) Each permit application and permit fee, along with all other fees payable pursuant to this ordinance, must be submitted to the City of Paducah Finance Department. 2 557 (E) No person shall operate or cause to be operated an alarm system without a valid permit issued by the City of Paducah after 30 days of having received written notification of three or more false alarm notifications. An issued permit is valid only for one alarm system. (F) Upon receipt of an application and the permit fee, the City of Paducah shall issue an alarm permit to an applicant unless the applicant has: (1) Failed to pay a fee assessed under this ordinance; or (2) Had an alarm permit for the alarm site revoked and the violation causing the revocation has not been corrected. (G) Each permit application must include the following information: (1) The name, address and telephone numbers of the person who will be the permit holder and be responsible for the proper maintenance and operation of the alarm system and payment of fees assessed under this article; (2) The classification of the alarm site as residential or commercial; (3) The purpose of each alarm system, i.e., fire or security (burglary or robbery); (4) Other information required by the designated authority that is necessary for the enforcement of this article. (H) Any false statement of a material matter made by an applicant for the purpose of obtaining an alarm permit shall be sufficient cause for refusal to issue a permit. (I) An alarm permit cannot be transferred to another person. A permit holder shall inform the City of Paducah Finance Department in writing of any change that alters C any information listed on the permit application. The notification must be done ""-- within (15) days of said change. No fee will be assessed for such changes. (J) The Paducah Police Department may, in its discretion, discontinue police responses to any alarm system operating without a valid permit or operating with a suspended or revoked permit. IV. Permit Holder to Produce Permit The permit holder shall produce his/her alarm permit for inspection upon demand by any official of the police or fire department. V. Permit Duration and Renewal (A) A permit expires one year from the date of issuance, and must be renewed annually by submitting an updated application and a permit renewal fee to the City of Paducah Finance Department. It is the responsibility of the permit holder to submit an application prior to the permit expiration date. Failure to renew will be classified as use of a non - permitted alarm system and citations and penalties shall be assessed without waiver. (B) If the registered alarm system has had no false alarms or alarm malfunctions during the last 12 -month period the $25.00 renewal fee will be waived. VI. Proper Alarm System Operation and Maintenance (A) A permit holder or person in control of an alarm system shall: (1) Maintain the premises and the alarm system in a manner that will minimize or eliminate false alarm notifications; 558 (2) Respond or cause his representative to appear at the system's location within a reasonable period of time when notified by an E911 dispatcher or other emergency communications or police or fire official to deactivate a malfunctioning alarm system, to provide access to the premises, or to provide security for the premises; (3) Not manually activate an alarm for any reason other than an occurrence of an event that the alarm system was intended to report; and (4) Install a device to automatically terminate the audible signal within 15 minutes of activation, and (5) Maintain and provide an updated list to the Paducah -McCracken County Emergency Communication Center of persons to be contacted to respond to the location of an alarm when required by the Paducah -McCracken County Emergency Communication Center or a representative of the police or fire departments. VII. Indirect Alarm Reporting (A) A person who is engaged in the business of relaying alarm notifications to the Paducah -McCracken County Emergency Communication Center shall: (1) Report alarms only over special trunklines or other communication facilities designated by the designated authority, and (2) Communicate alarm notifications to the Paducah -McCracken County Emergency Communication Center in a manner and form determined by the designated authority. VIII. Alarm System Operating Instructions Aers p on in control of an alarm system shall maintain at each alarm site a complete set of written operating instructions for each alarm system. Special codes, combinations, or passwords should not be included in these instructions. VIII. Persistent False Alarm Notifications Within a 24-hour Period and System Performance Reviews (A) The Paducah Police patrol shift commander may authorize the discontinuation of police response to a site that is responsible for repeated false security alarm notifications during a 24-hour period. The shift commander will cause the designated authority to be notified of the false alarm notifications and the reason(s) for the decision to discontinue police response. (B) If there is reason to believe that an alarm system is not being used or maintained in a manner that insures proper operation and suppresses false alarms and/or alarm malfunctions, the designated authority may require a conference with an alarm permit holder and the individual or association responsible for maintenance of the alarm system to review the circumstances of each false alarm/alarm malfunction. IX. False Alarm Notifications (A) The holder of an alarm permit or the person in control of an alarm system shall be subject to fees based upon the following schedules: (1) No fee shall be assessed for the first two (2) false alarm notifications at the same alarm site responded to by the police department or the fire department during each calendar year. Thereafter, the following fees shall be paid to the City of Paducah Finance Department by the permit holder of each alarm site .19 for each false alarm notification responded to by the police department or fire department during said calendar year: For security alarms responded to by the police department: Number of False Security Alarms per Calendar Year Fee Per False Alarm 3r $50.00 4t $75.00 5t $100.00 6th and above $150.00 For fire alarms responded to by the fire department: Number of False Fire Alarms per Calendar Year Fee Per False Alarm 3r $150.00 4 th $175.00 5t $200.00 6th and above $250.00 (2) Any person who receives notice of a fee or penalty assessed pursuant to this ordinance shall, within seven (7) days of the date of the notice, respond as required by the notice. If a notice is appealed, the provisions specified under that section shall apply. (3) If a person has not responded to a notice within seven (7) days of the date of the notice, a $25 late fee shall be assessed. (4) Any person operating a non -permitted alarm system, when permitting is required pursuant to this ordinance, or an alarm system with a suspended or revoked permit will be subject to a citation and assessment of $150.00 for each FAN payable to the City of Paducah Finance Department. X. Suspension of Alarm Permit (A) The seventh FAN shall result in a Notice of Suspension of Permit to remain effective until such time as: (1) Permit holder has responded by acknowledging the suspension in writing as directed by the designated authority, and (2) Permit holder has taken action to remedy the cause(s) of false alarms and reported as directed by the designated authority, and (3) The designated authority has issued a Removal of Suspension of Permit XI. Revocation or Loss of Alarm Permit (A) The designated authority shall revoke an alarm permit if it is determined that: (1) There is a false statement of a material matter in the application for a permit, or (2) The permit holder has violated any portion of this ordinance, or (3) The permit holder has failed to make payment within 30 days of having received written notice from the designated authority of a fee assessed pursuant to the provisions of this ordinance, or 5 559 560 (4) Ten or more false alarm notifications have been emitted from the alarm site within a twelve-month period. (B) A person commits an offense if he operates an alarm system during the period in which his alarm permit is revoked. XII. Reinstatement of Permit (A) A person whose alarm permit has been revoked may be issued a new permit if the person: 1` :) (1) Submits an updated application and pays a $50.00 permit fee, and (2) Pays, or otherwise resolves, all fees and citations in court issued to the person under this article, and (3) Submits a document of certification from a professional alarm company, properly licensed to install or design alarm systems, stating that the alarm system has been inspected and maintained by the alarm company. (B) Should any fee assessed pursuant to this ordinance remain unpaid in excess of sixty (60) days from the date the charge is billed, a collection fee in the amount of twenty- five percent (25%) of the outstanding balance shall be assessed and shall be payable by the owner of the premises in addition to the original fee. The owner shall also be responsible for any legal fees or costs incurred by the city in enforcement of this ordinance. The city may file a lien on said premises to collect all fees permitted under this ordinance. XIII. Appeals (A) A permit holder may appeal civil penalties resulting from the enforcement of this - ordinance, including fees payable to the City of Paducah and the suspension or revocation of alarm permits. An appeal must be made to the appropriate designated authority. An appeal must be in writing and must specify the reasons or basis for the appeal. The appeal must be made within 15 days of receiving notification related to penalties or other civil actions taken by the City of Paducah that prompted the appeal. (B) The designated authority shall review the facts and circumstances and determine whether the permit holder has shown good cause why the penalty or other civil action should be dismissed. The designated authority shall report his/her decision to the permit holder. (C) If the designated authority affirms the penalties and/or other civil actions that resulted in an appeal, the permit holder shall have seven (7) days to pay any fees assessed and payable pursuant to this ordinance. If those fees are not paid within the allotted seven (7) days, a $25 late fee also will be assessed. Any suspensions or revocations of permits shall be effective immediately upon the decision of the designated authority. XIV. Penalties. (A) In addition to any fees assessed and payable to the City of Paducah pursuant to the provisions of this ordinance, any person who operates an alarm system without a permit required by this ordinance, or with a suspended or revoked permit, shall be subject to a fine not to exceed $250. i'J (B) In addition to any fees assessed and payable to the City of Paducah, any person who fails to pay any fee authorized by the provisions of this ordinance within 30 days of receiving a written notice from the designated authority shall be subject to a fine not to exceed $250. in (C) In addition to the fees and penalties authorized by this ordinance, any person in violation of the noise control ordinance (Ordinance 42-104) may be subject to penalties specified under the provisions of that ordinance. SECTION 3. This ordinance shall be read on two separate days and will become effective upon summary publication pursuant to KRS Chapter 424. ATTEST: Jzanmiaw/' &eC' Tammara S. Brock, City Clerk Introduced by the Board of Commissioners, October 25, 2005 Adopted by the Board of Commissioners, November 8, 2005 Recorded by Tammara S. Brock, City Clerk, November 8, 2005 Published by The Paducah Sun, November 14, 2005 \ord\police\38 Article III(False Alarm) 7 56 V.