This chapter shall be known as the "Village of Williamsville Alarm Code."
[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Trustees of the Village of Williamsville 12-13-1999 by L.L. No. 5-1999. Amendments noted where applicable.]
The purpose of this chapter is to protect and promote the health, safety and general welfare of the residents of the Village of Williamsville 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 respectfully ascribed to them by this section:
A device 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 an 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 Town of Amherst Police Department or Williamsville Fire Company, central fire dispatch or other emergency dispatch center.
The owners and lessees of premises having alarm systems shall comply with all provisions of this chapter on or before the first day of January 2000.
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.
No alarm system shall have an automatic dialer feature or other type of alarm alert which connects automatically to enhanced 911 or the 911 emergency telephone system.
B.
There shall be no automatic alarm system with direct communication of any type to an emergency agency without prior written authorization from the emergency agency where the alarms terminate.
A.
General provisions.
(1)
The activation of an alarm system through mechanical failure, malfunction, improper installation or the negligence of the owner, user, custodian or lessee of an alarm system or of his 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.
(2)
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 alarm 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.
B.
Charges. An owner or lessee of real property to which an emergency agency responds as a result of avoidable alarm shall pay a fee for each such response in each calendar year as follows:
C.
Notice of excessive use. 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 five police alarms and/or one fire alarm 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 and shall contain with a copy of the Alarm Code.
D.
Administrative review. The Town of Amherst Chief of Police and the Village of Williamsville Building Inspector shall establish a policy and procedures whereby an owner of real property or lessee thereof on which an alarm system has been installed and who has been notified of an avoidable alarm may present evidence as to why any such alarm should not be classified as an avoidable alarm. The Town of Amherst Chief of Police and the Village of Williamsville Building Inspector shall designate members of their departments, not to exceed five in total, to receive such evidence and make recommendations and findings of fact concerning such classification. The Town of Amherst Chief of Police and the Village of Williamsville Building Inspector shall make the final determination concerning a classification, which determination shall be reviewable only pursuant to procedures under Article 78 of the Civil Practice Law and Rules. To challenge the classification of any alarm as an avoidable alarm, the real property owner or lessee thereof shall, in writing, notify the Town of Amherst Chief of Police and/or the Village of Williamsville Building Inspector within 20 days after receipt of notice of the avoidable alarm. The failure to give timely notice shall be deemed a waiver of the right to review the determination.
E.
Payment of charges. Avoidable alarm charges shall be paid to the Village Clerk of the Village of Williamsville at 5565 Main Street, Williamsville, New York 14221.
F.
Failure to remit fee. 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 following notice of the amount due is a violation of this code.
[Amended 5-28-2013 by L.L. No. 3-2013]
The Town of Amherst Chief of Police shall enforce this chapter for alarm systems which detect entry or exit from a building, structure or facility. The Village of Williamsville Building Inspector shall enforce this chapter for alarm systems which detect medical emergencies, smoke, fire or abnormal rise in temperature. For that purpose, the Village of Williamsville Building Inspector and the inspectors employed by the Village of Williamsville are authorized to issue and serve appearance tickets
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 provisions 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.
If any section, clause or provision of this chapter or the application thereof to any persons is adjudged invalid, the adjudication shall not effect other sections, clauses or provisions of the application thereof which can be sustained or given effect without the invalid section, clause or provision or application, and to this end the various sections, clauses or provisions of this chapter are declared to be severable.
This chapter shall become effective January 1, 2000.