[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Trustees
of the Village of Depew 5-2-1994 by L.L. No. 1-1994; amended in its entirety 3-11-2013 by L.L. No.
1-2013. Subsequent amendments noted where applicable.]
The purpose of this chapter is to protect and promote the health,
safety and general welfare of the employees and the residents of the
Village of Depew by reducing the number of avoidable security and
or fire alarms requiring emergency responses which are susceptible
to high accident rates, interfere with genuine emergencies (responses)
and produce unnecessary alarm noise to the surrounding community.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
A device or an assembly of equipment which is designed to
detect unauthorized entry, smoke, abnormal rise in temperature, fire
from a building, a structure or facility, or which is designed to
detect any emergency situation, and by reason thereof emits a response
to alert persons.
A device that automatically dials and relays a prerecorded
message to an emergency agency.
The Police Department, Fire Department, Central Fire Dispatch
or other emergency dispatch centers.
The owners and lessee of premises that have fire alarm systems
or any other system designed to detect emergency situations, shall
comply with all of the provisions of this chapter on or before the
first day of May 2013.
A.
No alarm system shall have an automatic dialer feature or other type
of alarm alert which connects automatically to enhanced 911 or 911
emergency telephone system.
B.
There shall be no automatic security and or fire alarm system with
direct communication of any type to an emergency agency without prior
written authorization from the emergency agency where the alarms terminate.
The activation of any 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 or her 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.
An owner or a 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:
The owner or a 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 each avoidable 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 a copy of this chapter.
A.
The Fire chief, the Police Chief or their appointed representatives
shall establish a Commission to establish a policy and procedure whereby
an owner of real property or a lessee thereof on which a fire 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 Commission shall designate members
of their departments, not to exceed three in total, to conduct hearings
and receive evidence and make recommendations and findings of facts
concerning same. The designated members shall make a final determination,
which determination shall be reviewable only pursuant to procedures
under Article 78 of Civil Practice Law and Rules.
B.
To challenge the classification of an alarm as an avoidable alarm,
the real property owner or lessee thereof shall notify the Commission
in writing within 20 calendar days after receipt of the notice of
the avoidable alarm of a request for a hearing. The failure to give
timely notice shall be deemed a waiver of the right to review the
determination.
Any person violating any of the provisions of this chapter shall be punished as provided in § 1-10 of this Code.
