No person shall install or use a burglary or hold-up alarm system
within the city without having applied for and been issued a valid
alarm user permit. The application form for such permits shall be
promulgated by the chief of police, and the police department shall
issue such permits and maintain the records relating thereto. Such
permits shall not be transferable. Any false statement of a material
matter made by an applicant for the purpose of obtaining an alarm
permit shall be sufficient cause for refusal to issue a permit.
(Ordinance 1266 adopted 9/23/1991)
(a)
Residential
alarms:
(1)
Alarm permit fee.
An administrative fee of fifty dollars
($50.00) shall be charged for the initial issuance of a residential
alarm system permit. A twenty-four dollar ($24.00) annual renewal
fee shall be paid in advance to the City of Alamo Heights by the alarm
holder.
(2)
Fees for false alarm notification.
An alarm user shall
pay a fee for each false alarm notification. Each false alarm notification
is subject to the following conditions.
a.
The
city may not consider a false burglary alarm to have occurred unless
a response is made by the police department within thirty (30) minutes
of the alarm notification and the police department determines from
an inspection of the interior or exterior of the premises that the
alarm was false.
b.
The
penalty for the signaling of a false alarm by a burglary alarm system
may not be imposed unless three (3) other false alarms have occurred
during the preceding twelve-month period.
c.
The
fee schedule for false burglary alarms in the preceding twelve (12)
month period is:
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One (1) to three (3) false burglary alarms: No fee.
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Four (4) to five (5) false burglary alarms: Fifty
dollar ($50.00) fee per false alarm activation.
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Six (6) to seven (7) false burglary alarms: Seventy-five
dollar ($75.00) fee per false alarm activation.
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Eight (8) or more false burglary alarms: One hundred
dollar ($100.00) [fee] per false alarm activation.
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The city reserves the rights to revoke an alarm permit
for more than eight (8) false alarms in a twelve (12) month period.
(b)
Non-residential
alarms:
(1)
Alarm permit fee.
An annual fee of fifty dollars ($50.00)
shall be charged for the issuance on an alarm system permit for any
non-residential entity (plus an additional fee of twenty-five dollars
($25.00) for each additional location of such entity). There shall
be no charge for permits issued to the United States, the State of
Texas, the City of Alamo Heights, or any agency thereof.
(2)
Fees for false burglary alarm notification.
(See section 10-32(a)(2) above.)
(3)
Fees for false robbery alarm notification.
An alarm
user shall pay a fee for each false alarm robbery notification (includes
panic and duress alarms). The fee schedule for false robbery, panic
or duress alarms in the preceding twelve (12) month permit cycle is:
No fee for the first false alarm.
One hundred dollar ($100.00) fee for the 2nd and 3rd false alarms.
One hundred fifty dollar ($150.00) fee for the 4th false alarm.
Two hundred fifty dollar ($250.00) fee for the 5th and successive
false alarms.
(Ordinance 1266 adopted 9/23/1991; Ordinance 1668 adopted 7/31/2006; Ordinance
1689 adopted 12/11/2006)
The chief may terminate law enforcement responses to a permit
holder because of excessive false alarms if the permit holder fails
to pay the false alarm fees required by this article. In order to
effect termination, the chief must issue written notice to the alarm
permit holder that the account is past due on false alarm charges.
The notice must specify that law enforcement responses will be terminated
if the alarm permit holder does not remit payment or make arrangements
for payment within a period of time not less than thirty (30) days.
The city reserves the right to revoke an alarm permit for more
than eight (8) false alarms in a twelve (12) month period.
(Ordinance 1266 adopted 9/23/1991; Ordinance 1668 adopted 7/31/2006)
A permit holder shall:
(1)
Maintain
the premises containing an alarm system in a manner that ensures proper
operation of the alarm system;
(2)
Maintain
the alarm system in a manner that will minimize false alarm notifications;
(3)
Respond
or cause a representative to respond within one and one-half (1-1/2)
hours when requested by the city to repair or deactivate a malfunctioning
alarm system or to provide access to the premises or to provide security
for the premises;
(4)
Not
manually activate an alarm for any reason other than an occurrence
of an event that the alarm system was intended to report;
(5)
Notify
the police department dispatcher prior to activation of an alarm for
maintenance purposes;
(6)
Adjust
the mechanism or cause the mechanism to be adjusted so that, upon
activation, an audible or visible alarm will not transmit another
alarm signal without first being reset; and
(7)
Adjust
the mechanism or cause the mechanism to be adjusted so that an alarm
signal will sound for no longer than twenty (20) minutes after being
activated.
(Ordinance 1266 adopted 9/23/1991)
Subject to the approved of the police chief, security alarms
may be connected directly to the Alamo Heights Police Department.
The city shall assume no liability or responsibility to respond to
such alarms. The police chief may require the disconnection or removal
at any time for any reason of such security alarms, including specifically
disconnection or removal for nonpayment of the required fees. A fee
of fifteen dollars ($15.00) per month payable annually in advance
shall be charged for any security alarm located in the police department
which originates from premises in the city, and eighteen dollars ($18.00)
per month payable annually in advance for any security alarm which
originates from premises outside of the city.
(Ordinance 1307 adopted 6/28/1993)
Any person violating the provisions of this article shall be, upon conviction thereof, punished as provided in section 1-5 of this Code. The city shall furthermore be entitled to injunctive relief against any violation of sections 10-31 through 10-34 and for any damages that may result to the city or the general public by reason of such violations.
Editor's note—Ordinance 1307, adopted June 28, 1993, renumbered former § 10-35 as § 10-36.
(Ordinance 1266 adopted 9/23/1991; Ordinance 1307 adopted 6/28/1993)
