[Adopted 6-10-1991 by Ord. No. 633; amended in its entirety 12-9-1991 by Ord. No. 637 (Ch.
5 of the 1971 Code)]
The Council, finding that there has been a proliferation
of installation and use of commercial and residential automatic burglar
and robbery alarm systems and fire alarm systems within the Borough,
that a substantial increase in the number of false alarms being reported
from these systems which have required Police and Fire Department
response and that the unregulated use of such alarm systems pose a
substantial threat to the orderly and effective provision of emergency
services by the Police and Fire Departments, hereby declares it to
be necessary to provide for the greater control and more effective
regulations of alarm systems, alarm businesses and users.
This article shall be known as the "Columbia
Borough Alarm Ordinance."
Certain terms, when used in this article, are
defined as follows, except where the context clearly indicates a different
meaning:
ALARM AGENT
Any person who is self-employed in or employed by an alarm
business, either directly or indirectly, whose duties include selling,
maintaining, leasing, servicing, repairing, altering, replacing, moving
or installing on or in any building, structure or facility any alarm
system.
ALARM BUSINESS
Any business operated by any individual, including a person
self-employed or a partnership, corporation or other entity which
engages in the activity of selling, leasing, maintaining, servicing,
repairing, altering, replacing, moving or installing any alarm system
or causing to be sold, leased, maintained, serviced, repaired, altered,
replaced, moved or installed any alarm system in or on any building,
structure or facility or employing alarm agent(s). This definition
does not include a person who engages in the manufacture or sale of
an alarm system from a fixed location and who neither visits the location
where the alarm system is to be installed nor designs the scheme for
physical location and installation of the alarm system in a specific
location.
ALARM SYSTEM
A.
Any mechanical or electrically operated instrument
composed of sensory apparatus and related hardware which is designed
or used for:
(1)
The detection of an unauthorized entry or attempted
entry into a building, structure or facility or for alerting others
of the commission of an unlawful act within a building, structure
or facility, or both, and which emits a sound or transmits a signal
or message when activated.
(2)
The detection of a hazardous condition resulting
from fire, heat, smoke or explosion within a building structure or
facility and which emits a sound or transmits a signal or message
when activated.
B.
"Alarm systems" include but are not limited to local alarm systems, audible alarms, automatic telephone devices, alarms connected directly to the communications center, central stations and certain proprietary systems as set forth in Subsection
A hereof.
C.
This definition shall not include the following
devices and their related hardware:
(1)
Devices which are not designed for and as used
do not register alarms that are audible, visible or perceptible outside
of the protected building, structure or facility unless police response
is expected or is a result of the alarm.
(2)
Devices which are designed for and installed
upon motorized vehicles or trailers.
(3)
Devices maintained and operated by the Borough
police used for the detection of unlawful acts and sometimes known
as a "portable stakeout alarm system."
ALARM USER
Any person on whose premises an alarm system is maintained
which system is not specifically exempted from regulation under this
article. Sanctions imposed by this article shall be determined based
upon false alarms occurring per permitted location and not based upon
the total number of permits possessed by an alarm user.
AUTOMATIC PROTECTION DEVICE (APD)
Any mechanical or electrically operated instrument composed
of sensory apparatus and related hardware which is designated or used
for the detection of an unauthorized entry into a building, structure
or facility or for alerting others of the commission of an unlawful
act within a building, structure or facility, or both, and which emits
a sound or transmits a signal or message when activated; or the detection
of a hazardous condition resulting from fire, heat, smoke or explosion
within a building, structure or facility and which emits a sound or
transmits a signal or message when activated. "Automatic protection
devices" include but are not limited to audible alarms, automatic
dialing devices, alarms connected directly to communication centers
and proprietor alarms.
AUTOMATIC TELEPHONE DEVICE
An alarm system which is interconnected to a telephone line
and is programmed to select a predetermined telephone number and transmit
by prerecorded voice message or coded signal an emergency message
indicating a need for emergency response.
CENTRAL STATION
Any office, except the communication center, to which remote
alarm and supervisory signaling devices are connected, where operators
supervise the circuits and/or where guards are maintained continuously
to investigate alarm signals.
CHIEF OF POLICE
The Chief of Police of the Columbia Borough Police Department
or his designated representative. Wherever in this article duties
or responsibilities are assigned to the Chief of Police, he may delegate
them to such person or persons with the Police Department or Columbia
Borough Fire Department as he deems necessary and expedient for the
effective administration of this article.
[Amended 10-22-2019 by Ord. No. 918]
COMMUNICATIONS CENTER
The radio communications room of the Columbia Borough Police
Department and the Lancaster County Fire and Police Radio Network.
FALSE ALARM
An activation of an automatic protection device (APD) signal,
necessitating a response by the Columbia Borough Police Department
or Columbia Borough Fire Department where an emergency situation does
not exist at a particular permitted location. The term does not include
alarms caused by acts of nature or utility service interruptions.
[Amended 10-22-2019 by Ord. No. 918]
FIRE CHIEF
The Borough of Columbia Fire Chief.
[Amended 12-16-2003 by Ord. No. 726]
FIRE DEPARTMENT
The Columbia Borough Fire Department.
[Amended 12-16-2003 by Ord. No. 726; 10-22-2019 by Ord. No. 918]
LOCAL ALARM SYSTEM
An alarm system which is attached to the interior or exterior
of a building and which, when activated, causes an audible and/or
visual warning signal which can be heard and/or seen outside the building
and is designed to attract attention when activated by an intrusion
or other emergency requiring Police or Fire Department response.
PERSON
An individual, firm, partnership, association, corporation,
company or organization of any kind, and when used in any clause prescribing
and imposing a penalty, "person" includes the individual members,
partners, officers and managers, or any of them, of partnerships,
associations and similar entities and the officers, directors and
managers, or any of them, of corporations.
PROPRIETARY SYSTEM
An alarm system which sounds within the protected premises
or a control center under the supervision of the proprietor of the
protected building, structure or facility. If Police or Fire Department
response is expected or is a result of that proprietary alarm signal
or message, it thereby becomes an alarm system as defined by this
article.
RESPONSE ASSESSMENT FEE
A fee charged a permittee for each and every false alarm
to which the Columbia Borough Police Department or Fire Department
responds. Exemption: No fee shall be charged if:
A.
The false alarm response is the first, second
or third Police or Fire Department response per permit year.
[Amended 12-16-2003 by Ord. No. 726]
B.
The alarm is received indicating line trouble.
C.
The false alarm was caused by an act of nature.
D.
The false alarm was caused by utility service
interruptions.
The Chief of Police may promulgate such regulations
as are necessary for the administration and enforcement of this article.
Before becoming effective, any such regulations shall be approved
by resolution of the Council and thereafter shall be available for
public inspection.
The information furnished and secured pursuant
to this article shall be confidential in character and shall not be
disclosed except in accordance with law or order of court or if required
in connection with the administration and enforcement of this article.
This article shall be enforced by the Columbia
Borough Police Department and Fire Department acting through the Chief
of Police or his designated representative.
[Adopted 12-11-2017 by Ord. No. 891]
The following structures shall be equipped with a key lock box
at or near the main entrance or such other location required by the
Fire Chief of the Borough of Columbia:
A. Commercial or industrial structures protected by an automatic alarm
system or automatic suppression system, or such other structures that
are constructed in a manner that restricts access during an emergency
as shall be determined from time to time by the Fire Chief.
B. Multifamily residential structures that have a common entrance for
two or more rental units.
[Amended 8-13-2019 by Ord. No. 917]
C. Governmental structures and nursing care facilities.
All newly constructed structures subject to this article shall
have the key lock box installed and operational prior to the issuance
of an occupancy permit. All structures in existence on the effective
date of this article and subject to this article shall have one year
from the effective date of this article to have a key lock box installed
and operational.
The Fire Chief of the Borough of Columbia shall designate the
type of key lock box system to be implemented within the Borough of
Columbia and shall have the authority to require all structures subject
to this article to use the designated system.
The owner or operator of a structure required to have a key
lock box shall, at all times, keep a key in the lock box that will
allow for access to the structure by the Fire Chief, and emergency
fire personnel, Police Chief of the Borough of Columbia, and police
personnel.
The Fire Chief shall be authorized to implement rules and regulations
for the use of the key lock box system, which rules and regulations
shall be posted on the website of the Borough of Columbia.
[Amended 8-13-2019 by Ord. No. 917]
The Fire Chief will determine the type of key and size of the
key lock box.
[Amended 8-13-2019 by Ord. No. 917]
The key lock box shall be installed at a location designated
by the Fire Chief and shall be identified in a manner described by
the Fire Chief, or in the alternative, designated and identified by
the Fire Chief’s designee.
[Amended 8-13-2019 by Ord. No. 917]
The owner or operator of the facility shall update the appropriate
documents within the key lock box on an annual basis or more frequently
when deemed necessary by the Fire Chief and/or Code Official and shall
send the Fire Chief all of the updated material, including an updated
copy of the emergency and hazardous chemical inventory form, which
shall be placed in the key lock box as well as disseminated among
the Codes Department and emergency response personnel, including members
of the Police Department.