This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Automatic
Alarm System Law of the Town of Macedon."
The intent of this chapter is to reduce the number of false
fire and police alarm calls which the local fire department and law
enforcement officers are required to respond to within the Town of
Macedon, by reducing the number of chronic repeat calls to any particular
property.
Any owner of real property having a fire and/or police alarm
system or system of fire and/or police alarm devices on said property
on or after the effective date of this chapter shall, for each and
every false fire or police emergency alarm to which a fire department
or police agency (including, but not limited to, the Macedon Police,
Wayne County Sheriff's Department or State Police) responds, be subject
to the following conditions:
A. For up to and including three false fire and/or police emergency
alarms in any calendar year, a written warning shall be issued by
the Code Enforcement Officer or Fire Marshal, and no fine shall be
imposed.
B. For each of the next three false fire and/or police emergency alarms
in any calendar year, a fine for each false alarm in the amount of
$100 shall be paid by the property owner to the Town of Macedon.
C. For each subsequent false fire and/or police emergency alarm in any
calendar year, the property owner shall pay a fine to the Town of
Macedon in the sum of $250.
Any property owner who is fined for one or more false alarms
may contest such fine by mailing written notice of objection to the
Town Supervisor within 10 days after the notice of the fine is sent.
Failure to do so causes the fine to be deemed final. The Supervisor
shall then, within the next succeeding 30 calendar days, send notice
to the property owner at his last known address of a date for a hearing
before the Town Supervisor. The hearing shall be informal, and the
property owner shall not be required to be put under oath. The Town
Supervisor shall send written notice of his or her decision to the
property owner within 10 days of the hearing, and the decision of
the Supervisor shall be final.
All notices sent pursuant to this chapter shall be sent by certified
mail or registered mail, return receipt requested, and shall be considered
sent on the date of mailing.
[Amended 6-25-2020 by L.L. No. 3-2020]
The malfunction of an alarm system which causes a false alarm
shall, even though it is a malfunction, constitute a false alarm,
and a warning shall be issued or a fine shall be imposed for a false
alarm as set forth in this chapter.
All fines imposed for false alarms as established by this chapter
shall be paid within 30 days of the fine being final.
If the fine is not paid within 30 days of the charge being final,
then a late penalty of 10% shall be added to the amount charged. For
each month thereafter, an interest charge of 1% per month shall be
added to the charge until paid. Any charge overdue for 30 days or
more, together with interest and penalties, shall be added to the
next Town and county tax bill for the property, if the total due has
not been paid by the last date on which said delinquent payments can
be added to the Town and county tax bill.
In the event of an automatic fire and/or police alarm on a private
or public premises, if entry is deemed necessary by the responding
emergency service, and the property owner or agent thereof cannot
be reached, any damages incurred as a result of entry will be the
responsibility of the property owner/agent.