The city council finds and declares that:
A. 
Inadequately regulated alarms systems present a growing danger to the health, safety and welfare of the residents of the city.
B. 
The volume and frequency of falsely activated alarm systems is a condition which has persisted so as to become an increasingly hazardous public nuisance and a serious drain upon limited emergency services and equipment needed at other locations.
C. 
Every residence and business property is entitled to the safety and protection afforded by local law emergency service.
D. 
The necessity for the provisions and prohibitions contained and enacted in this chapter is declared to be a matter of public policy in the pursuance of security and promoting the public health, safety and welfare of the city and its residents.
(Ord. 3246 § 2, 1978; Ord. 4103 § 2, 1988)
For the purposes of this chapter, the following definitions apply:
"Agent"
means any natural person who is employed or authorized by an alarm business or company to sell, lease, rent, install, maintain, service, repair, alter, replace or remove any alarm system.
"Alarm system"
means a device or system of interconnected devices, including hardware and related appurtenances, designed to give warning of fire or activity indicative of criminal conduct or unauthorized entry upon premises protected thereby.
"Alarm system panel"
means any machine or device in which two or more separate and distinct alarm systems, as specified in this chapter, may be maintained, controlled, tied-in, accommodated, or monitored.
"Alarm user"
means any person on whose property, dwelling, building, structure, residence, motor vehicle, institution or any other facility an alarm system is maintained within the city. Excluded from this definition and from the coverage of this chapter are persons who use alarm systems to alert or signal persons within the premises in which the alarm system is located of a fire or an attempted unauthorized intrusion or holdup attempt. If such a system, however, employs an audible signal emitting sounds or a flashing light or beacon designed to signal persons outside the premises, such system shall be within the definition of alarm system and shall be subject to this chapter.
"Annunciator"
means that part of an alarm system which communicates that fact that the system has been triggered.
"Audible annunciator"
means an annunciator which gives alarm by means of a bell, siren, buzzer or similar sound-producing device mounted at some location other than entirely within a building, or which, when activated, is clearly audible at a distance of fifty feet or more outside of any building in which it is mounted.
"Chief"
means the chief of police or the fire chief of the city.
"Emergency services"
means any city departments authorized to respond to an alarm.
"Exempt alarm system"
is an alarm system owned, maintained, and monitored by any governmental law enforcement agency in furtherance of law enforcement duties.
"False alarms"
means any activation of an alarm system not resulting from fire or criminal activity or unauthorized entry, upon or following which communication is made to emergency services that an alarm has been triggered. If units responding to an alarm and checking the protected premises according to standard emergency services operating procedure are unable to discover any evidence of fire or unauthorized entry or criminal activity, there shall be a rebuttable presumption that the alarm is false.
"Telephonic alarm system"
means any alarm system as specified in this chapter which will activate a prerecorded telephone dialing device programmed to dial a telephone number maintained by emergency service.
"Visual annunciator"
means an annunciator installed entirely on the protected premises and which gives inaudible warning by means of a flashing light or other visible signal.
(Ord. 3246 § 2, 1978; Ord. 4103 § 2, 1988)
A. 
No alarm system shall be installed, used or maintained in violation of any of the requirements of this code, or of any applicable statute, law or administrative regulation of the United States of America, the state of California, or any administrative rule-making body thereof.
B. 
The holder of an alarm system license shall be responsible for training and retraining all employees, family members and other persons who may make regular use of the protected premises and who may, in the normal course of their activities, be in a position to accidentally trigger an alarm. Such training shall include procedures and practices to avoid accidental alarms, and steps to follow in the event the system is accidentally triggered.
C. 
The holder of an alarm system license shall, at all times, be responsible for the proper maintenance and repair of the system, and for the repair or replacement of any component, method of installation, design feature, or like condition which may give rise to a false alarm.
D. 
On or after sixty days from the effective date of the ordinance codified in this chapter, notification of an unauthorized or illegal entrance by a person into a building, dwelling, structure, residence, motor vehicle, institution, or any other facility containing a security alarm system, shall be made by personnel of the alarm business or company directly to a telephone number maintained by emergency services.
1. 
Prerecorded telephonic alarms by means of a programmed automatic dialer shall be prohibited and therefore will not activate a response.
E. 
On or after one year from the effective date of the ordinance codified in the chapter, no alarm user shall have in operation an audible alarm, unless said alarm shall be capable of terminating its operation within thirty minutes of its activation.
F. 
On or after sixty days from the effective date of the ordinance codified in this chapter, there shall be prominently displayed upon any building, dwelling, structure, residence, motor vehicle, institution, or any other facility upon or within which an alarm has been installed, the telephone number at which communication may be made with the owner of the premises or the alarm system agency.
G. 
Employees of the city emergency services shall have the right to take such steps as may be reasonable and necessary to disconnect any such alarm installed in any building, dwelling, structure, residence, motor vehicle, institution or other facility, if said alarm does not terminate its operation within thirty minutes of its activation.
H. 
The provisions and prohibitions of this section do not pertain to the following:
Alarm systems which are not intended or designed to alert directly or indirectly emergency services or others outside the protected building, structure, or facility, but are designed solely to alert security personnel or others directly connected with or employed by the owner or operator of the protected building, structure, or facility.
(Ord. 3246 § 2, 1978; Ord. 4103 § 2, 1988)
No alarm user shall have, install, operate or maintain any alarm system without first having applied for and secured a license, paid license taxes as specified in Chapters 5.04 and 5.08, and complied with all regulations pertaining to such activity provided in this code.
(Ord. 4472, 05/23/95; Ord. 4446, 7/5/94; Ord. 3246 § 2, 1978; Ord. 4103 § 2, 1988)
Effective January 1, 1978, no alarm user shall have or maintain any alarm system unless a permit therefor shall have first been obtained from the city as provided in this chapter. Where the alarm system is in operation prior to the effective date of this chapter, the alarm user shall be responsible for contacting the city manager and obtaining said permit
(Ord. 3246 § 2, 1978; Ord. 4103 § 2, 1988)
All applications for permits under this chapter shall be made on a form prescribed by the city manager, and shall contain the following information:
A. 
The name, address, and telephone number of the principal of the protected premises;
B. 
The type of premises (home, office, variety store, etc.) and any business name by which the premises is known;
C. 
The address of the protected premises, including if it is in a residential, commercial or industrial complex (office building, apartment house, shopping center, etc.), and any name by which the complex is commonly known;
D. 
The names, addresses and telephone numbers, including home phone numbers, of all agents.
(Ord. 3246 § 2, 1978; Ord. 4103 § 2, 1988)
Upon receipt of the permit application and the appropriate tax, the city manager or designee shall issue an alarm permit. The current schedule of taxes shall be on file with the city clerk, and shall be in such amounts as the city council may set from time to time by resolution.
Each alarm permit shall be valid until revoked or suspended or until there is a significant change in the alarm system or a change in principal for the protected premises.
(Ord. 3526 § 3, 1981; Ord. 4103 § 2, 1988; Ord. 4446, renumbered, 07/05/94, 5.84.080; Ord. 4446, renumbered, 07/05/94, 5.84.090)
Within ten days following any change of circumstances which renders obsolete any of the information submitted pursuant to Section 5.84.060, the permittee shall file an amendment to the application setting forth the currently accurate information.
(Ord. 3246 § 2, 1978; Ord. 4103 § 2, 1988; Ord. 4446, renumbered, 07/05/94)
The following shall be grounds for suspension of any permit issued pursuant to this chapter:
A. 
Any false or incomplete statement made on the permit application;
B. 
Programming of an automatic dialer to select an emergency services line;
C. 
Maintenance, installation or use of an alarm system in violation of any applicable law, ordinance or regulation, including the requirements of this chapter;
D. 
Failure to provide current information as required by Section 5.84.090, or to post the notice required by subsection F of Section 5.84.030;
E. 
Failure to pay the business license tax for a false alarm within ten days of demand.
(Ord. 3246 § 2, 1978; Ord. 4103 § 2, 1988; Ord. 4472, 05/23/95; Ord. 4446, renumbered, 07/05/94, 5.84.100; Ord. 4446, 7/5/94; Ord. 4446, Rep&ReEn, 7/5/94)