[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the Town of Elma 3-16-1994. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Fire prevention — See Ch. 79.
The purpose of this chapter is to protect and promote the health,
safety and general welfare of the residents of the Town of Elma by
reducing the number of avoidable alarms of fire, intrusion, holdup
or other emergencies which contribute to ineffective utilization of
police and fire emergency agencies, require emergency responses which
are susceptible to high accident rates, interfere with genuine emergencies
(responses) and produce unnecessary alarm noise to the surrounding
community.
For the purpose of this chapter, the following words and phrases
shall have the meanings as defined below:
A device, whether singular or multiple units, or an assembly
of equipment which is designed to detect smoke, abnormal rise in temperature,
fire, medical emergency or an entry into or exit from a building,
structure or facility, and by reason thereof emits audible response
intended to alert persons outside of the premises and/or transmit
a signal or message to an emergency agency either directly or through
a private answering point.
A device that automatically dials and relays a prerecorded
message to an emergency agency.
The police agency or fire company, central fire dispatch
or other emergency dispatch center.
[Amended 10-19-2005]
The owners and lessees of premises having alarm systems shall
comply with all provisions of this chapter on or before the day of
adoption, 1994.
A.
No person shall install or maintain an external audible alarm device
which does not contain an operational automatic cutoff system which
turns off the external audible alarm after a period not to exceed
10 minutes.
B.
An automatic dialer connected directly to an emergency agency shall
automatically disconnect and/or terminate its message after the message
has been transmitted a maximum of two times. Notwithstanding the foregoing,
however, the total transmission time of all messages shall not exceed
five minutes.
A.
The activation of an alarm system through mechanical failure, malfunction,
improper installation, intentional act or the negligence of the owner,
user, custodian or lessee of an alarm system or of his invitees or
employees requiring an emergency response when in fact an emergency
does not exist constitutes an avoidable alarm. An avoidable alarm
also includes intentional activation of an alarm system when the activator
knows an emergency situation does not exist.
B.
An avoidable alarm does not include alarms activated by violent conditions
of nature or similar causes beyond the control of the user, owner
or operator of the system. The activation of an alarm system under
any circumstances in which the activator reasonably believes that
an emergency situation exists shall not be deemed to be an avoidable
alarm.
An owner or lessee of real property to which an emergency agency
responds as a result of an avoidable alarm shall pay a fee for each
such response in each calendar year as follows:
|
Emergency Service Response
| |
|---|---|
|
Avoidable Alarm Responses
|
Charge
|
|
1 to 2
|
No charge
|
|
3 to 5
|
$50 each
|
|
6 and over
|
$100 each
|
[Amended 10-19-2005]
The owner or lessee of real property which received an emergency
response by reason of an avoidable alarm shall be notified, in writing,
by means of first-class mail of all avoidable alarms up to two police
agency and/or fire alarms in a calendar year. The letter shall inform
the owner or lessee of the times and types of emergency responses
provided to the address location; the letter shall be forwarded to
the address location and/or the last known residence and shall include
a copy of the alarm code.
The Building Inspector shall forward a letter of violation to
the owner or lessee upon the occurrence of the third avoidable alarm
and thereafter, indicating the applicable fine. To challenge the classification
of an alarm as an avoidable alarm, the real property owner or lessee
thereof shall, in writing, notify the Building Inspector within 20
days after receipt of notice of the avoidable alarm. Failure to give
timely notice shall be deemed a waiver of the right to review the
determination of avoidable alarm.
[Amended 10-19-2005]
Avoidable alarm fees or charges shall be paid to the Town Clerk
of the Town of Elma at 1600 Bowen Road, Elma, New York 14059.
Failure of a real property owner or lessee of property on which
an alarm system is installed to pay the avoidable alarm charge within
30 days from notice of the amount due shall result in said owner or
lessee being deemed served with a summons and shall be in violation
with this chapter.
The Building Inspector shall enforce this chapter for alarm
systems which detect medical emergencies and entry or exit from a
building, structure or facility and for alarm systems which detect
smoke, fire or abnormal rise in temperature.
Any person, business, firm, corporation, partnership, association
or other entity that does not pay the fee as established in this code
or who violates any other provision of this code shall be subject
to a civil penalty not to exceed $1,000 for each offense. A separate
offense shall be deemed committed upon each day during which a violation
occurs, continues or is permitted.
