[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Council of Peters Township
at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I).
Amendments noted where applicable.]
This chapter shall be known as the "Peters Township, Alarm System
Ordinance."
[Amended 6-26-2017 by Ord. No. 817]
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
Any device designed or used for detection of a physical force
or condition inherently characteristic of a fire, intrusion into a
building, structure or facility or for alerting persons in the attempt
or commission of a crime or an emergency situation involving potential
death or serious injury and which is directly connected to an audible
alarm or the transmission of a related signal or message which is
used to evoke an emergency response to any address or separate component
of any system.
The activation of an alarm system or the report of such an
activation by a property owner, lessee or any other person occupying
or otherwise on any premises within Peters Township to which a public
safety agency responds when a crime, fire or other emergency has not
occurred. This shall also be taken to mean false alarms as defined
by the National Fire Incident Reporting System.
Any municipal agency including the Police Department, Fire
Department and any other duly constituted municipal authority, including
but not limited to, the Washington County Communications (911) Center.
The Peters Township Council, under authority granted to it by
the Home Rule Charter, hereby enacts the herein chapter which shall
be supplemental to enforcement under the Pennsylvania Crimes Code
Section 7511 [18 Pa.C.S.A. § 7511 (1998)].
The Council of Peters Township finds and declares that:
A.
Many of the emergency alarms to which the Peters Township Police
and emergency personnel respond are false. False alarms are herewith
deemed to be nuisances resulting in a waste of municipal manpower
and creating the potential for serious injury to police officers,
Fire Department personnel, and other emergency personnel responding
to a false alarm. Further, when said personnel are responding to false
alarms, they are not available for the protection of residents and
the general public of the Peters Township Police territory.
B.
The danger created by emergency responses from false alarms is unnecessary
and hazardous.
C.
The unnecessary waste of public revenue through responses to false
alarms should be eliminated.
D.
False alarms have created conditions causing danger and annoyance
to the general public.
[Amended 6-26-2017 by Ord. No. 817]
It shall be unlawful for the property owner, lessee or any person
occupying or otherwise on any premises within Peters Township to make,
or cause to be made, a false fire or security alarm, directly or indirectly,
to any police, fire department or agency responding to alarms within
the Township. A person and/or entity that causes or permits to be
caused a false alarm violates this chapter.
[1]
Editor’s Note: Former §§ 105-5, Application
for alarm permit, 105-6, Alarm permit transfer, and 105-7, Alarm permit
fees, were repealed 6-26-2017 by Ord. No. 817. This ordinance also
provided for the redesignation of former §§ 105-8 and 105-9
as 105-8 and 105-7, respectively.
[Added 6-26-2017 by Ord.
No. 817]
A.
All fire alarms shall be built and maintained to the standards defined in NFPA 72 and Chapter 165, Construction Codes, Uniform, of the Code of Peters Township.
B.
All components of a burglar or criminal alarm system must be maintained
by the property owner or lessee in good repair to assure maximum reliability
of operation.
C.
The Township shall retain the authority, at reasonable times and
upon written or oral notice, to enter upon any premises within the
Township and to inspect the installation and operation of an alarm
system to ensure compliance with the provisions of this chapter.
[Amended 6-26-2017 by Ord. No. 817]
A.
Any person or other entity who, after receiving notice, written or
oral, from the Peters Township Police, that police, emergency personnel
or other municipal officials have responded to two false alarms as
defined in this chapter during one calendar year shall thereafter
pay a service fine of $50 for a third false alarm in the same calendar
year, $75 for a fourth alarm in the same calendar year, and $100 for
the fifth alarm, and the sixth and subsequent alarms will be fined
at $300 per false alarm thereafter, in the same calendar year, plus
the costs of prosecution.
B.
For the purpose of determining the number of false alarms, the repeated
alarms in a twenty-four-hour period shall be deemed as one false alarm.
The information furnished and secured pursuant to this chapter
shall be confidential in character and shall not be subject to public
inspection other than as allowed by Pennsylvania law, and all records
shall be so maintained that the contents thereof shall not be divulged
to anyone except to the persons charged with the administration of
this chapter.
[Amended 6-26-2017 by Ord. No. 817]
This chapter shall be effective five days from the date of its
adoption and advertisement.
Enforcement of this chapter shall be supplemental to enforcement
under the Pennsylvania Crimes Code Section 7511 [18 Pa.C.S.A. § 7511
(1998)].
