Any owner who has been assessed a civil penalty pursuant to section 16-153 may request, in writing, within ten days after mailing of the notice of assessment of the civil penalty, an informal hearing with the director of public safety. At such hearing, the owner must show that:
(1) Any false alarms for which he has been penalized were the result of violent conditions of nature or other extraordinary circumstances not reasonably subject to owner's control; and
(2) The cause of such false alarm has been corrected or is not subject to repetition. Upon such a showing the director of public safety may relieve the owner of penalty arising therefrom. Any decision of the director of public safety shall be mailed in writing to the owner at his address and the director of public safety shall inform the village manager. The decision of the director of public safety may be appealed to the village manager. In such case the notice of appeal to the manager shall be in writing and shall be filed with the manager within ten days of mailing of the final decision by the director of public safety. The manager shall, upon receipt of the notice of appeal, schedule a hearing on the matter within 30 days from the date of receipt thereof. Appeal to the manager shall be de novo and the burden of proof shall be on the owner to show by the preponderance of the evidence the above two facts. The manager shall either uphold the civil penalty or strike the penalty. The decision of the village manager regarding the penalty shall be final and failure to perfect an appeal to the village manager within the time set forth in this section shall constitute a waiver of the right of appeal.
(Ord. No. 2000-23, § 4, 10-21-2000; Ord. No. 2013-0501, 5-17-2013)