Ordinance 1981-011 Regulation of Fire Alarms & Prohibition of Excessive False AlarmsORDINANCE N0. 11-81
AN ORDINANCE OF THE VILLAGE OF NORTH PALM BEACH, FLORIDA
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AMENDING CHAPTER 19 (OFFENSES AND MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS) OF THE
CODE OF THE VILLAGE OF NORTH PALM BEACH, FLORIDA, 1979, AS AMENDED,
BY ENACTING ARTICLE X (ALARMS) CONCERNING THE REGULATION OF ALARMS
AND THE PROHIBITION OF EXCESSIVE FALSE ALARMS: APPEALING ALL ORDINANCES
OR PARTS OF ORDINANCES IN CONFLICT HEREWITH; PROVIDING A SAVINGS CLAUSE;
AUTHORITY TO CODIFY; AN EFFECTIVE DATE; AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.
WHEREAS, the Director of Public Safety of the Village of North
Palm Beach has indicated that improper installation, maintenance and use
of criminal detection alarms and fire alarms in the Village of North Palm
Beach has resulted in a tremendous number of false alarms being signaled
every day to which the Public Safety Department must respond in force; and
WHEREAS, the emergency response to each criminal alarm requires
at least two officers and two patrol cars; and fire alarms result in
emergency response by officers, fire equipment and off duty personnel and
fire volunteers; and
WHEREAS, the office of the Director of Public Safety has
indicated that virtually all alarms so activated are caused by defects
in the alarms themselves or in their installation, maintenance or use,
rather than by criminal activity and fires; and
WHEREAS, the following reasonable regulation of alarms should
result in a significant decrease in false alarms with a resultant saving
in public resources; and
WHEREAS, said regulations should raise funds to defray the
cost of responding to false alarms by imposition of a service charge;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE VILLAGE COUNCIL OF NORTH
PALM BEACH, FLORIDA:
Section 1. There is hereby enacted ARTICLE X (Alarms) as a
new Article of Chapter 19 (Offenses and Miscellaneous Provisions) of the
Code of the Village of North Palm Beach, Florida, 1971, as amended, to
read as follows:
Section 19-207. Definitions. For the purpose of this
article, whenever any of the following words or terms are used herein,
they shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section.
(a) "Alarm" shall mean any device which is used in a building
or premises for the detection of unauthorized entry,
burglary, or any other criminal activity or fires, and
' which when activated emits a sound signal, or message to
alert others, whether emitted on or off the premises or
to the central office of an alarm business.
(b) "Alarm Business" shall mean any person engaged in the
business of selling, leasing, monitoring, maintaining,
servicing, repairing, altering, replacing, moving, or
installing any alarm for any building place or premises.
(c) "Alarm user" shall mean any person using an alarm or
occupying and controlling a premises or building, or a
portion of a premises or building, served. by an alarm.
(d) "Class 'A' Alarms" shall mean all those alarms activated
by illegal entry or in response to criminal activity or
' fire and includes alarms activated solely by an act of
nature not contributed to by faulty maintenance, instal-
lation or use.
(e) "False Alarms" shall mean all activated alarms, responded
to by the Public Safety Department, which do not qualify
as Class 'A' alarms, including, but not limited to, alarms
activated through inadvertence, neglect, accident, faulty
installations or maintenance.
(f) "Person" shall mean an individual, partnership, association
or corporation.
Section 19-208. Alarm Uermit required. No person shall have
an alarm installed to be operational, or use an existing alarm
' serving a premises or a building, or portion thereof, occupied
or controlled by such a person, unless an alarm permit has been
issued hereunder, and is in force, authorizing the use of such
alarm. Said alarm permit shall constitute a regulatory license.
For any alarm existing prior to the effective date of this
Ordinance, an alarm permit application shall be made within
sixty (60) days of the effective date hereof.
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Section 19-209. Application for alarm permit.
1. Applications for alarm permits shall be made to the Director
of Public Services on forms provided by the Public Services
Department. The application shall be signed by the alarm
user and shall provide the following information:
(a) Name, address and telephone number of the alarm
' user.
(b) Address and telephone number of the alarm user's
premises or building to be served by the alarm.
(c) The name, address and telephone number of the person
or persons in charge of the premises or building
served by the alarm.
(d) The name, address and telephone number of the person
or entity installing said alarm.
(e) The name, address and telephone number of the person
or entity monitoring said alarm.
(f) The name, address and telephone number of the person
or entity providing maintenance and repair service to
said alarm.
(g) An agreement by the alarm user, binding upon the alarm
user's heirs and successors in interest, to promptly
pay or lawfully contest any penalties assessed against
the alarm user for an excessive number of false alarms
as described in this article.
2. An amended application shall be filed within ten (10) days
after any change in the information provided in said
application. Upon such amendment, a new alarm permit shall
be issued without charge or fee.
Section 19-210. Term of permit; Fee; Non-transferable. A
permit fee shall be charged the alarm user by the Village
' based on the valuation of the installation as established by
Section 107.4 of the Standard Building Code for each permit
issued.
Any alarm permit issued pursuant to this article shall not be
transferable or assignable and shall cover only one (1)
building or premises.
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Section 19-211. Issuance of alarm permit. An alarm permit
shall be issued to the alarm user by the Director of Public
Services within ten (10) days after receipt of said completed
application by the Director of Public Services. An alarm
permit shall be denied if:
(a) The requested information is not supplied on the
' application
(b) Material information on the application is incorrect.
(c) Any person or entity listed on the application under
items (d), (e) and (f) of Section 19-209 does not
possess any required occupational or regulatory license
to conduct the activities required by said items (d), '
(e) and (f), unless the person or entity is the alarm
user.
Section 19-212. Excessive false alarms declared a public
nuisance. The emission of more than three (3) false alarms
within any six (6) month period of time is excessive and
constitutes a serious public nuisance, and is hereby declared
to be unlawful and a violation of this section. No person
shall allow, permit, cause or fail to prevent, the emission,
for any reason, by any alarm used by him, or any alarm serving
premises or a building occupied and controlled by such person,
of more than three (3) false alarms within any six (6) month
period of time.
Section 19-213. False alarm service charge: Collection. An
alarm user shall pay the fillowing service fees to the Village
for responses to excessive false alarms by the Public Safety
Department within any six month period: a) There shall be no
charge for a response to the first three (3) false alarms.
b) There shall be a service fee charge of $25.00 for response
to the fourth false alarm. c) There shall be a $50.00 service
fee charge for response to a fifth false alarm. d) There
shall be a $100.00 service fee charge for response to any
false alarm in excess of five in any six month period.
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The Director of Public Safety shall keep a record of whenever
a false alarm has been responded to by the Public Safety
Department, and shall note the frequency of such false alarms
for each alarm user. The Village shall notify each alarm user
of the service fee charges owed to the Village pursuant to
this Section and shall make demand therefore with the charges
' to be paid within thirty (30) days after demand.
The Director of Public Safety or the Village Attorney may
proceed by a suit in a court of proper jurisdiction to collect
such service fee charge after demand therefore has been made
by the Village and the alarm user has failed to pay same within
thirty (30) days after such demand.
Section 19-214. Penalty. Any person who shall violate the
provisions of this article shall, upon conviction thereof, be
punished as provided in Section 108 of this code.
Section 19-215. Interference with Public Safety Department
telephone trunk lines prohibited; Alarm business central office
required; Identification required.
' (a) No person shall use or cause to be used any telephone
or electronic device or attachment that automatically
selects a public primary telephone trunk line of the
Public Safety Department or any other department or
bureau of the Village, and then reproduces any
prerecorded message to report any burglary,
unauthorized entry or other emergency.
(b) No person shall provide a private alarm service
system programmed to a central alarm reception office
unless it shall have the central office staffed at all
times, twenty-four (24) hours a day, including holidays.
(c) Any staff member of a private alarm service system
' reporting an alarm activation to which the Public
Safety Department response is requested shall identify
himself and state the name and telephone number of the
alarm business by which such response is requested.
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Section 19-216. Audible alarms. All alarms which may be heard
in any public place shall be equipped and maintained to auto-
matically cut off no longer than thirty (30) minutes after being
set off.
Section 19-217. Enforcement through Code Enforcemend Board.
The Director of Public Safety and Director of Public Services
may initiate action before the Code Enforcement Board of the
Village to obtain compliance with this article. The Board
shall have authority to place a lien against the property
served by the criminal detection or fire alarm in the amount
of all service charges assessed by the Village pursuant to
Section 19-213 above.
Section 19-218. Exemptions. This article shall not apply
to any alarms attached to motor vehicles or attached to any
publicly owned property.
Section 19-219. Alarm system standards. All alarm systems
installed within the Village of North Palm Beach shall meet
or exceed the standards of, and be listed, by, Underwriters
Laboratory, Inc., and the Standards of the National Fire
Protection Association.
Section 2. All ordinances or parts of ordinances in conflict
herewith be and the same are hereby repealed.
Section 3. Should any section or provision of this Ordinance,
or any portion thereof, any paragraph, sentence or word be declared by
a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, such decision shall not
affect the validity of the remainder hereof as a whole or any part
thereof other than the part declared to be invalid.
Section 4. Specific authority is hereby granted to codify
this Ordinance.
Section 5. This Ordinance shall become effective immediately
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upon passage.
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FIRST READING THIS 22nd DAY OF OCTOBER, 1981.
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SECOND, FINAL READING IN FULL AND PASSAGE THIS 12th DAY OF
NOVEMBER, 1981.
MAYOR
(VILLAGE SEAL)
ATTES`P
VILLAGE CLERK
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FIRST READING THIS 22nd DAY OF OCTOBER, 1981.
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SECOND, FINAL READING IN FULL AND PASSAGE THIS 12th DAY OF
NOVEMBER, 1981.
MAYOR
(VILLAGE SEAL)
ATTES`P
VILLAGE CLERK
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