[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Trustees of the Village
of Avon 7-31-2000 by L.L. No. 2-2000. 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.
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
or others that an emergency exists at the site of such installed alarm
requiring an immediate response from a police or fire agency. This
chapter does not apply to state, county, town, Village and school
buildings or alarms.
As used in this chapter the following terms shall have the following
meaning:
Any false alarm reported or 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.
Any mechanical or electrical device installed in a building
or on premises for the purpose of automatically notifying, directly
or indirectly, police or fire agencies or sounding an alarm 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 Police 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.
There will be no cost to the applicant for a permit. Permits will
be issued by the Village Clerk upon completion of an application providing
the following information:
(1)
Date of application.
(2)
Type of alarm.
(3)
Name, address and telephone number of the person responsible for
the alarm.
(4)
Address and extent of premises protected by the alarm.
(5)
Location of the alarm device enunciator panel(s).
(6)
Offices or agencies notified by the alarm.
(7)
Names, addresses and telephone numbers of persons to be contacted
in the event of an alarm, any time of the day or night, and who will
respond to the alarm and are authorized by the alarm user to enter
the premises.
(8)
Other information required by the Clerk.
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 that the alarm is operated without a permit thereafter.
B.
Any person who is responsible for an installed alarm which causes
more than two avoidable false alarms within a twelve-month period
shall be liable for a civil penalty of $100 for the third false alarm
within any twelve-month period; $200 for the fourth false alarm within
any twelve-month period; and $300 for the fifth and each subsequent
false alarm in any twelve-month period.
A.
After a false alarm, the local alarm system shall become deactivated
and silenced automatically after a period of time not to exceed 15
minutes by the alarm owner or agent.
B.
Police and/or fire officials may disable an audible alarm signal
that has not been silenced prior to the expiration of the fifteen-minute
period and shall not be liable for any damage that may result.
