A.
Purpose. It shall be the intent of this section to reduce the number of fire false alarms occurring within the City and reduce the resulting dependency on City resources by assessing financial penalties for each occurrence.
B. “Commercial” “Fire alarm activation” “Fire false alarm” “Person” “Residential”
Definitions. For the purposes of this section:
shall mean for buildings approved for all occupancies other than residential occupancies.
is the giving, signaling, or transmission of a fire alarm to any public fire station, fire company, fire officer or any employee of the jurisdiction with normal responsibilities for public safety or to any central alarm monitoring agency whose purpose is to monitor fire alarms, whether by telephone, spoken word, electronic conveyance or otherwise, any information to the effect that there is a fire at or near the place indicated by such signal or transmission.
is the activation of a fire alarm by any means or for any purpose other than an actual fire. A fire alarm is properly activated when evidence of fire, smoke, or emergency conditions are found to exist upon arrival of the Fire Department. All other activations, including non-fire heat-related activation, construction, or maintenance-related incidents and accidental or malicious activation, shall be considered false.
shall include any natural person, partnership, joint stock company, unincorporated association or society, club or corporation of any type whatsoever.
shall mean for buildings approved for single-family or duplex occupancies.
C.
Penalty assessed. It shall be unlawful for any person to give, signal or transmit or for any person to cause or permit to be given, signaled or transmitted in any manner any fire false alarm. For a fire department dispatch or response to any fire false alarm, the City shall charge and collect from the person(s) having or maintaining such fire alarm on the premises owned or occupied by them the following penalty:
1.
A charge of $150 for each residential fire false alarm billed to the building owner, as indicated on the County’s Assessor-Treasurer record for the parcel, at the residential address of the false alarm.
2.
A charge of $250 for each commercial fire false alarm. If the commercial fire false alarm is generated by an accidental or unintentional activation of an alarm by the owner or employees of a business, the charge shall be billed to the business. If the activation occurs due to fire alarm system malfunction, repair or maintenance work performed on the system the charge shall be billed to the building owner unless a contractor maintaining the system accepts the charge for the owner.
D.
Notice of violation. The Fire Chief or their designee shall be responsible for the issuance of written notices of violation and assessment of penalties for all fire false alarms.
E.
Administrative decision. Notice of the imposition of penalty charges under the provisions of this section shall be given to the person having or maintaining a fire alarm on premises owned or occupied by them; provided that with respect to business premises the owner, manager or chief administrative agent regularly assigned and employed on the premises at the time of the occurrence shall be presumed to be the person having or maintaining said alarm on said business premises.
F.
Waiver of penalty. In the event the Fire Chief or their designee determines that fire false alarms occurred as a direct result of an interruption of power provided by an electrical utility, natural hazard, telephone system malfunction, alarm equipment malfunction of properly installed and maintained equipment, or for other causes beyond the control of the persons otherwise responsible for the false alarm, such as an emergency situation or a malicious activation in a public building, the Fire Chief or their designee may waive imposition of the applicable penalties.
G.
Appeal of administrative decision. Any party subject to a penalty under the provisions of this section shall have a right of appeal to the Fire Chief or the Fire Chief’s designee. A notice of appeal must be submitted in writing no later than ten days after issuance of the notice of the penalty and must be directed to the Fire Chief at the address listed on the notice of penalty. The written appeal should include the penalty fee reference number and the party’s reasoning why the determination of a fire false alarm should be reconsidered. Within 30 days of receipt of a written appeal, an impartial review of the appeal shall be completed and a recommendation shall be presented to the Fire Chief or their designee for final decision to the appellant in writing. Unless notice of appeal is properly filed in accordance with this section within ten days of issuance of notice of penalty said penalty is deemed final.
(Ord. 28549 Ex. A, 2018-11-20)