(a) Purpose and Scope. The purpose of this chapter is to protect persons and property in the City and to prevent misuse of emergency services. This chapter governs alarm systems, establishes a system of administration, requires permits and provides penalties for civil and criminal punishment of violations.
(b) Definitions. As used in this Chapter:
(1) "Alarm agent" means any person who is employed by an alarm business, either directly or indirectly, whose duties include any of the following: selling, maintaining, leasing, servicing, repairing, altering, replacing, moving or installing any alarm system in or on any structure within the City.
(2) "Alarm business" means any full- or part-time business by a person selling, leasing, maintaining, servicing, monitoring, repairing, altering, replacing, moving or installing any alarm system; or causing to be sold, leased, maintained, monitored, serviced, repaired, altered, replaced, moved or installed any alarm system in or on any building, place or premise.
(3) "Alarm malfunction" means an activated alarm system and a response by the Police, Fire Department or Ambulance resulting from windstorm or other severe weather condition, Act of God, , lightning, utility work, or any electrical or mechanical failure not resulting from improperly installed equipment.
(4) "Alarm system" means any assembly of equipment, (mechanical, electrical or detecting device) arranged to signal the occurrence of an unauthorized entry, burglary, fire, medical alert or other activity requiring urgent attention, and to which the Police, Fire Department or Ambulance is expected to respond, either as an automatic dialing device, central station monitoring center, or an audible alarm inside or outside the premises.
(5) "Annual" means the calendar year.
(6) "Audible alarm" means an alarm system that, when activated generates an audible sound inside or outside the premises.
(7) "City" means the City of Ashtabula, Ohio.
(8) "False alarm" The activation of an alarm system, not by fire, intrusion or medical condition or hazard, but through careless use, technical failure, equipment malfunction, improper installation, or negligence of the owner or lessee of an alarm system, or of his or her employees or agents. False alarms does not include alarm failures caused by water, gas, electrical, telephone, or other utilities not under the control of the alarm user, or the willful act of a person other than the alarm owner or his or her employees or agents. The definition excludes alarms caused by a user on the premises acting under a sincere belief that a need exists to call the Police, Fire Department or Ambulance.
(9) "Person" means any natural person, firm, partnership, corporation, or unincorporated association.
(10) "Subscriber" means the person in control of premises wherein an alarm system is maintained.
(c) False Alarms. False alarm charges shall be made as follows unless waived, for good cause, in writing, by the City Manager, or his designee:
(1) Residential users. No charge shall be made for the first two false alarms during any consecutive 12-month period. A warning letter will be sent or issued to the subscriber after the first false alarm indicating that fines will be incurred after the next false alarm. A charge of one hundred dollars ($100.00) shall be made for a third (3rd) and subsequent false alarm during any 12 month period.
(2) Business users. No charge shall be made for the first two false alarms during any consecutive 12-month period. A warning letter will be sent or issued to the subscriber after the first false alarm indicating that fines will be incurred after the next false alarm. A charge of one hundred dollars ($100.00) shall be made for a third (3rd) and subsequent false alarm during any 12 month period.
(3) For the purposes of this section, there shall be no distinction between a false alarm to the police or the fire department. A false alarm to either department counts toward the total number of false alarms per year.
(4) There shall be no charge for a false alarm that is caused by an alarm malfunction as defined in Section 503.01(b)(3). Schools, hospitals and publicly-owned buildings shall not be subject to a charge for a false alarm.
(d) General Regulations.
(1) All equipment used in alarm installations shall meet the applicable standards of Underwriters Laboratories, Inc. and/or the National Fire Protection Association and/or another recognized industry standard approved by the Chief of Fire or Chief of Police. All equipment shall be installed according to the manufactures specifications. The applicants may be required to submit evidence of the reliability and suitability of the equipment to be installed.
(2) The sensory mechanism used in connection with such devices shall be adjusted to suppress false indications of fire or smoke, or intrusion so that the devices shall not be actuated by impulses due to transient pressure change in water pipes, short flashes of light, wind noises such as the rattling or vibrating of doors or windows, RF transmission, vehicular noise adjacent to the installation or other forces unrelated to genuine alarms.
(3) All components comprising such a device shall be maintained by the owner, lessee and/or user in good repair to assure reliability of operation and prevent false or unintentional alarms.
(4) Each alarm equipment supplier that sells or leases an automatic protection device which is installed on any premises in the City shall furnish instructions for the operation and maintenance of such device to the purchaser or lessee.
(5) Each alarm equipment supplier that sells or leases an alarm system with an automatic dialer or central station monitored system shall provide for receiving calls for service, directly or through an agent, on a twenty-four hour basis, seven days a week.
(6) Each alarm equipment supplier that provides monitoring services for an alarm system shall maintain an accurate list of emergency contact information for the home or business owner or their designee. This contact information shall be updated at least annually.
(7) At the time of installation, each alarm equipment supplier shall furnish to the person for whom an alarm system has been installed, written information as to how service can be obtained at any time, including the telephone number to call for service; and such user shall be responsible for having the device repaired as quickly as possible after learning, either from his own sources or from notification by the City, that the device is not working properly.
(8) Any system that includes a stationary silent panic/hold-up button used to summon the Police Department shall be of one of the following types:
- Dual-button design, requiring activation of both buttons simultaneously.
- Single button, recessed design to prevent accidental activation.
(9) Any system programmed to include a DURESS code feature, will utilize a unique code and not utilize the reversal of the last two numbers of any code programmed. If the system is not capable of assigning a unique Duress code, then this feature shall be deprogrammed.
(10) Any system incorporating an interior or exterior audible device shall be limited to sounding not more than 10-minutes in duration.
(e) Penalty; Request for Hearing; Bond.
(1) Whoever violates any provision of this Chapter for which a penalty has not been otherwise established shall be subject to a civil penalty of one hundred dollars ($100) per occurrence.
(2) The City Manager, or his designee, may order an alarm user to disconnect an alarm system immediately so that signals are not emitted to the Police Department and/or Fire Department, either directly or indirectly if the alarm system has generated an excessive number of false alarms. An excessive number of false alarms for the purposes of this section is an accumulation of more than ten false alarms within a twelve consecutive month period.
(3) Any person who fails to pay any charge for a false alarm as provided herein and any charge which remains unpaid for a period of thirty days after the date of invoice for a false alarm or false alarms, shall be ordered by the City to immediately disconnect the alarm system so that it does not signal the Police Department and/or Fire Department either directly or indirectly. Any person who fails to disconnect the alarm system as ordered by the City, as provided for in this section, and in subsection (B) hereof, and the alarm system thereafter continues to emit false alarms, shall be deemed to have committed a minor misdemeanor. An alarm system may be reconnected only if satisfactory evidence is provided to the City Manager or his designee that the alarm has been repaired so that it does not emit further false alarms and upon payment of all delinquent charges assessed for false alarms.
(4) The alarm user or person affected under subsections (1) and/or (2) above may request a hearing before a panel consisting of the City Manager, the Fire Chief or his designee and the Police Chief or his designee to contest the order of the City Manager. The presence of two out of three of the panel shall constitute a quorum. The request for a hearing must be filed in writing within 5 business days from the date of the notice or invoice and shall be delivered to the Office of the Ashtabula City Manager, together with cash or a bond in an amount equal to the fine assessed or the amount billed by the City. Upon receipt of such written request and the security, the City Manager shall schedule a hearing within 10 days from the date of the receipt of the appeal, unless the time is extended by mutual agreement of the City Manager and the aggrieved party or person.
(5) At the hearing, the party or person aggrieved may present evidence regarding why the civil penalty should not be assessed or the system not disconnected. The panel may, in its sole discretion, impose the original fine or assessment, modify it or waive it. Any civil penalty shall be paid from the cash or bond posted.
(Ord. 2011-41. Passed 4-4-11.)
CITY OF ASHTABULA