[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors
of the Township of Tobyhanna 12-21-1998 by Ord. No. 403. Amendments noted where
applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Police — See Ch. 37.
This chapter shall be known as the "Tobyhanna
Township Alarm Ordinance."
As used in this chapter, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
Any device designed or used for detection of intrusion into
a building, structure or facility or for alerting persons of the attempt
or commission of a crime or any emergency situation involving potential
death or serious injury and which is directly connected to an audible
alarm or the transmission of a related signal or message which is
used to evoke an emergency response to any address or separate component
of any system.
Any municipal agency, including police, fire and any other
duly constituted municipal authority.
The activation of an alarm system due to other than said
purpose for which the alarm system is designed. Any activation of
an alarm system caused by any malfunction caused by violent natural
catastrophic conditions including electrical storms or power outages
or conditions beyond the control of the permittee will not constitute
a nuisance alarm.
The Tobyhanna Township Supervisors, by authority
granted to them as specified in the Second Class Township Code, being
the Act of May 20, 1957, P.L. 74, as amended by the Act of March 21,
1968, P.L. 66, No. 22, § 1, 53 P.S. § 66529, hereby
enacts this chapter.
The Board of Supervisors of Tobyhanna Township
finds and declares that:
A.
The majority of emergency alarms to which the Pocono
Mountain Regional Police Department and emergency personnel respond
are false. False alarms are herewith deemed to be nuisances resulting
in a waste of municipal manpower and creating the potential for serious
injury to police officers, fire department personnel and other emergency
personnel responding to a false alarm; further, when said personnel
are responding to false alarms, they are not available for the protection
of residents and the general public of the Pocono Mountain Regional
Police Department territory.
B.
The danger created through emergency responses created
by nuisance alarms is unnecessary and hazardous.
C.
The unnecessary waste of public revenue through responses
to nuisance alarms must be eliminated.
D.
Nuisance alarms have created conditions causing danger
and annoyance to the general public.
[Amended 3-15-2021 by Ord. No. 562]
Every applicant for an alarm permit shall file with Tobyhanna
Township a written application on forms provided by Tobyhanna Township
stating the name, address and telephone number of the applicant; a
description of the property or properties where the proposed alarm
system shall be installed; the location, road, name of the development
and a name which is conspicuously displayed on the property or mailbox
of the property; a description of the type or types of alarm system
to be used, including name and model number of the manufacturer; the
name of the person or company who will install the alarm system at
the location; and the name, address and telephone number of any person
or company who will be available to be contacted in the event of an
alarm activation. In the case of more than one building site in which
the alarm systems shall be installed, the applicant must provide Tobyhanna
Township with the necessary information concerning how the alarm for
each building shall be distinguishable from the alarms in other buildings.
All alarms should have a nine-minute cutoff time. If the name, mailing
address or telephone number of the person to be contacted changes,
the applicant shall supply corrected information to the Township within
five days of the change. If requested by the Township, the persons
listed shall be required to be present at the alarm location within
a reasonable length of time after being notified that the police or
other emergency departments have received any signal or message of
an alarm activation.
A.
Alarm permits shall be transferable from one permittee
to another, or from one location to another, without the express written
authorization from Tobyhanna Township. In the event that the premises
in which the alarm system has been installed is to be leased, conveyed
or transferred, it shall be the responsibility of the then-registered
permittee to notify the township of the name and telephone number
of the new owner or new lessee and the name of the person to be contacted
in case of the alarm activation.
B.
Any subsequent individual or other type of entity
that obtains title or occupies real property in which an alarm system
has been installed and a permit has been issued by Tobyhanna Township
shall notify the township within five days of taking possession of
said property and make application for registration, specifying all
information necessary for the Pocono Mountain Regional Police Department
or other emergency departments to respond to the alarm activation.
A.
Every person or entity applying for an alarm permit
under the provisions of this chapter shall pay a fee, established
by resolution of the Tobyhanna Township Supervisors, to obtain an
alarm permit prior to the installation of the new alarm system on
the premises.
B.
Any individual or other entity who owns or obtains
title to or leases property in which an alarm system has already been
installed shall pay the fee established by resolution of the Tobyhanna
Township Supervisors to register the name, address, telephone number
and individual to be contacted in case of the activation of the alarm
system.
C.
All fees shall be payable to Tobyhanna Township.
A.
Any person or responsible entity that shall fail to
make application or register with Tobyhanna Township prior to the
installation or transfer of an alarm system on the premises shall
pay to Tobyhanna Township a fine in the amount of $50, plus costs
of prosecution.
B.
Any person or other entity who receives written notice
from the Pocono Mountain Regional Police Department that an emergency
department has responded to two nuisance alarms as defined in this
chapter during any six-month period shall thereafter pay a fine of
$25 for the first nuisance alarm, $50 for a second and $100 for each
nuisance alarm thereafter, plus the costs of prosecution. For the
purpose of determining the number of nuisance alarms, the repeated
alarms in a twenty-four-hour period shall be deemed as one nuisance
alarm.
C.
All alarms should have a nine-minute cutoff time.
For first-time violators, the fine shall be $50; for second-time violators:
$100; for third-time violators: $150; and for each time after the
third time: $150.
In the event that the applicant-permittee or
transferee shall receive written notice from the Pocono Mountain Regional
Police Department that three nuisance alarms have occurred on the
premises within a term of 30 days, Tobyhanna Township, after giving
15 days' written notice to the applicant-permittee or transferee,
shall conduct a hearing to determine whether the permit shall be suspended
until the applicant-permittee or transferee shall produce proof satisfactory
to the township that the alarm system has been properly repaired so
that no future nuisance alarms will be activated. If, after notice
and hearing, it is the judgment of the township that such permit shall
be suspended, and if the alarm has not been properly repaired, disconnected
or removed from the premises, the applicant-permittee or the transferee
shall then be liable to pay a fine to the township in the sum of $300
per nuisance alarm.
The information furnished and secured pursuant
to this chapter shall be confidential in character and shall not be
subject to public inspection, and all records shall be so maintained
that the contents thereof shall not be divulged to anyone except to
the persons charged with the administration of this chapter.
Enforcement of this chapter shall be supplemental
to enforcement under the Pennsylvania Crimes Code Section 7511 [18
Pa.C.S.A. § 7511 (1998)].
