[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Trustees of the Village of Ocean Beach 11-4-2006 by L.L. No. 8-2006. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Key boxes — See Ch. 87, Art. IV.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
FIRECOM
The Suffolk County Department of Fire, Rescue and Emergency Services.
VILLAGE
The Incorporated Village of Ocean Beach.
This chapter shall be known as the "Alarm System Regulations."
No homeowner, business owner, resident, tenant or occupant (hereinafter all referred to as "resident") of any building or within any building, residence, home accessory building, school, church, synagogue or other structure (hereinafter referred to as "premises") shall connect or maintain any alarm system, calling device, signaling device or other mechanical apparatus which directly or indirectly is intended to signal or alert the Village of Ocean Beach police station or telephone line and/or telecommunications line or FIRECOM without first obtaining an alarm permit and satisfying Village standards for alarm systems and this chapter of the Village Code. A permit is also required for audible alarms that are not connected directly or indirectly to signal or alert the police station or FIRECOM. Any change in ownership of property shall require the submission of an application to operate an alarm system and the issuance of an alarm permit.
Upon submission of the application to operate an alarm system in conformity with the standards imposed herein and upon payment of the applicable permit fee, the Village Clerk shall issue a permit for each alarm. Any permit issued pursuant to this chapter shall be nontransferable, and the permit fee shall be nonrefundable. Applicable permit fees shall be set by resolution of the Board of Trustees of the Village of Ocean Beach.
An annual permit service fee shall be due and payable as of January 1 of each calendar year for each alarm. In the event any such service permit fee is not paid on or before April 15 of each such year, said fee, plus an administrative charge, shall be levied against the real property as a lien having the same priority as a Village tax and being deemed as part of the annual Village tax for all purposes. The annual permit service fee and the administrative charge shall be set by resolution of the Board of Trustees of the Village of Ocean Beach.
Alarm systems in use at the effective date of these regulations shall be required to comply with these regulations within 60 days of the effective date of this regulation. Failure to comply may result in the existing system being removed from service without further notice to the resident.
A. 
For purposes of these regulations, a "false alarm" shall be one which needlessly or erroneously signals or alerts the Village police station, FIRECOM, Village Fire Department or other Village employee(s) and/or volunteers. The holder of a Village alarm permit shall be solely and wholly responsible for any and all false alarm(s) to police, FIRECOM, Fire Department and/or employee(s) of the Incorporated Village of Ocean Beach. False alarms may result in revocation of the permit to operate the system by the Village of Ocean Beach and the system being removed from service if deemed appropriate by the Village.
B. 
The Officer in Charge at the scene of a call for service shall make a determination as to whether the signal was a false alarm or not. Upon a determination that the signal was a false alarm, the Officer in Charge shall have a notice of violation issued. Upon determination of a second false alarm issued concerning the same subject premises in a calendar year, a summons will be issued returnable to the Village Justice Court for that false alarm and for each subsequent false alarm. Records of all such determinations, notices of violations and summonses shall be maintained by the Village of Ocean Beach Police Department.
[Amended 7-18-2015 by L.L. No. 1-2015]
C. 
Upon the fourth false alarm during a calendar year, the Village shall notify the property owner/permit holder/fire alarm system owner in writing by certified mail. Thereafter, the Village, in its discretion, reserves the right to revoke the existing permit, refuse to renew and/or direct the resident to modify the existing system so as to eliminate the cause of the false alarms. Revocation or refusal to renew shall only be after a hearing before the Board of Trustees on notice to the permit holder. Notice of revocation or refusal to renew shall also be by certified mail sent at least 15 days before such revocation and/or end of permit period. In case of revocation, the Village shall have the right to remove the alarm system from service. Costs of modifying or removing an alarm system from service shall be the responsibility of the resident.
[Amended 7-18-2015 by L.L. No. 1-2015]
D. 
The Village recognizes that widespread false alarms may occur from forces beyond control of residents, such as rain, lightning or other unforeseeable and unintentional reasons. In such event(s), resulting false alarm(s) may be excused by the Ocean Beach Fire Department or the Ocean Beach Police Department and shall not be counted as a false alarm.
A. 
In the event of a malfunction in the system or connection directly or indirectly to police headquarters and/or FIRECOM, the owner of the system will be notified in writing that he has three business days from receipt of said notice in which to correct the malfunction and restore the system to proper operating condition. If at the end of three business days the malfunction has not been corrected, the alarm may be removed from service at police headquarters and/or Suffolk County and may be ordered out of service at the residence. Upon reapplication to the Village of Ocean Beach by the owner or lessee of the system in the form of a written certification by an approved alarm business that the malfunction has been corrected, the system will be reconnected to the appropriate monitor console/system. Costs of removal and reconnection shall be the responsibility and at the expense of the resident.
B. 
The Village shall have no responsibility for equipment costs, installation charges or damages resulting from the failure of the alarm system to operate or failure of the Village to respond to an alarm, or for losses incurred as a result of equipment or systems no longer useful or for reasons of Village permit revocation or refusal by the Village to renew permits or changes in standards rendering system(s) useless.
This section applies to all alarm systems and equipment either existing or installed after the effective date of these regulations.
A. 
Every system with an alarm bell or signal audible from outside the house, whether such system is connected directly or indirectly to police headquarters and/or FIRECOM or operates independently, must be equipped with a device which automatically shuts off the outside alarm bell or signal within 15 minutes from its having been activated.
B. 
All police and fire alarm equipment sold or leased within the Village of Ocean Beach must meet reasonable safety standards, such as those acceptable to Underwriters' Laboratories or equivalent.
C. 
Every system must be equipped with a time delay of at least 20 seconds before signal connection to Police Department and/or FIRECOM is activated.
D. 
Every system connected directly or indirectly to the Village Police Department and/or FIRECOM must be equipped with a visible or audible indicator that the alarm system is in operation. This indicator must be installed in an obvious location at the principal entrance/exit for the residence. It may be located on either the inside or the outside of the residence.
E. 
Every system connected directly or indirectly to the Village Police Department and/or FIRECOM which signals both a fire alarm and a burglar alarm shall be equipped with separate distinguishing signal for each kind of alarm.
A. 
Alarm business(es) operating within the Village must maintain a place of business that is reasonably accessible to the Village of Ocean Beach for the inspection of records.
B. 
Alarm business(es) operating within the Village must maintain and keep available for inspection adequate records of all sales. installations, modifications, maintenance and service agreements of police and fire alarm devices performed by said business in the Village of Ocean Beach. These records must include the names and addresses of alarm agents who sold, installed, modified, maintained or serviced each individual system and the date said agent(s) was present at the premises.
C. 
All alarm businesses must provide proof of insurance saving the Village of Ocean Beach harmless against any claim arising out of the sale, installation, service, maintenance or operation of a police and/or fire alarm device in the Village of Ocean Beach.
D. 
Alarm businesses must have twenty-four-hour-a-day service.
E. 
Agents and employees of alarm businesses shall not have any record of criminal offense against people or property.
[Amended 7-18-2015 by L.L. No. 1-2015; 7-13-2019 by L.L. No. 03-2019
Any person found violating any provision of the chapter shall be guilty of an offense and shall be adjudged a disorderly person and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punishable by a fine or imprisonment, or both. Fines for conviction of a first offense shall not be less than $250 nor more than $750. Fines for a second conviction of a violation of this chapter shall not be less than $750 nor more than $1,500. Fines for a third and subsequent convictions of a violation of this chapter shall not be less than $1,500 nor more than $3,000, or imprisonment for not more than 15 days, or both.