[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Trustees
of the Village of Geneseo 10-6-1997 by L.L. No. 3-1997; amended in its entirety 11-17-1997 by L.L. No.
6-1997. Subsequent amendments noted where applicable.]
It is the purpose of this chapter to protect
and promote the public health, safety and general welfare by eliminating
avoidable false fire and burglar alarms and thereby ensuring that
fire and police facilities and personnel will be available for actual
emergencies. False alarms unnecessarily drain resources and require
emergency responses which contribute to increased accident rates and
which delay responses to real emergencies.
[Amended 9-20-1999 by L.L. No. 4-1999]
This chapter applies to all installed fire and
burglar alarms which are directly connected to a police or fire agency
or to a private agency which, in turn, makes a connection to a police
or fire agency or to no agency but merely sounds an alarm on the premises,
each installed alarm having the purpose of notifying police and/or
fire agencies that an emergency exists at the site of such installed
alarm requiring an immediate response from such police or fire agency.
This chapter does not apply to state, county, town, public school
and Village buildings.
As used in this chapter, the following terms
shall have the meanings as indicated:
Any false alarm received by a local police or fire agency
from an installed alarm which is caused by improper installation of
the system, by a mechanical failure or malfunction of the system or
is due to negligence on the part of the owner, user, custodian or
other person responsible for the installed alarm. An avoidable false
alarm does not include an alarm activated by a natural phenomenon,
such as a tornado, earthquake or the like, or by acts of third parties
which are beyond control of the person responsible for the installed
alarm; all other false alarms are prima facie avoidable false alarms
prohibited by this chapter.
Any mechanical or electrical device installed in a building
for the purpose of automatically notifying, directly or indirectly,
police or fire agencies when a break-in or fire occurs and used for
the purpose of summoning help from police or fire agencies.
A.
Effective immediately, a Village permit is required
for the installation and/or operation of any installed alarm which
serves to alert, either directly or indirectly, the Geneseo Village
Police and/or Fire Department. Permits for those installed alarms
which are now in operation must be obtained within 60 days of the
effective date of this chapter.
B.
Permits, which include a list of penalties for infractions,
are issued by the Village Clerk upon payment of a five-dollar fee
and upon completion of an application which requires the following
information:
(1)
Date of application.
(2)
Type of alarm.
(3)
Name and address of person responsible for the alarm.
(4)
Address and extent of premises protected by alarm.
(5)
Location of enunciator panel(s).
(6)
Offices or agencies notified by alarm.
(7)
Names, addresses and telephone numbers of persons
to be contacted in event of an alarm.
(8)
Other information required by Clerk.
No person shall operate, or cause to be operated,
an installed alarm in a manner that results in an avoidable false
alarm.
A.
Any person who is responsible for operating an installed
alarm without a permit shall be fined not less than $100, plus an
additional $50 for each 10 days the alarm is operated without a permit
thereafter.
B.
Any person who is responsible for an installed alarm
which renders more than two avoidable false alarms within a twelve-month
period shall be fined not less than $250 for the third avoidable false
alarm, and for each subsequent avoidable false alarm within a twelve-month
period, the penalty will be increased by $100 over the preceding penalty.
