[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Council of the Town of Mount
Morris 6-14-2012 by L.L. No. 4-2012. Amendments noted where applicable.]
This chapter shall be called "A Local Law For The Regulation
of Fire Alarms and Burglary Alarms in the Town of Mt. Morris."
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.
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. The provisions regarding permits set forth hereinafter at § 13-5 shall apply to any installed alarm which is installed after the effective date of this chapter. All other provisions of this chapter apply to all installed alarms regardless of the date of installation.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
following meanings:
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 Town permit is required for the installation
and/or operation of any installed alarm which serves to alert, either
directly or indirectly, any law enforcement and/or fire department.
Permits operating within the Town of Mt. Morris 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 Town Code Enforcement Officer upon payment of a fee in an amount
as set from time to time by resolution of the Town Board and upon
completion of an application which requires the following information:
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General
Provisions, Art. I)]
(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 the Code Enforcement Officer.
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.
