Loading...
ARTICLE 4
ALARM BUSINESS REGULATION AND REGISTRATION FEES
ALARM BUSINESS REGULATION AND REGISTRATION FEES
SECTION:
19-4-1: Definitions
19-4-2: Alarm Licenses And Permits; General
19-4-3: Alarm Business License
19-4-4: Alarm Permits
19-4-5: False Alarms, Penalties And Revocation Procedures
19-4-6: Special Alarm Provisions
19-4-7: Liability Of Village Of Oak Park Limited
19-4-8: Central Station Alarm Monitoring
19-4-9: Enforcement And Penalties
19-4-10: Miscellaneous Provisions
For the purpose of this article, certain terms are defined as follows:
ALARM BUSINESS: A business by any individual, partnership, corporation, or other entity selling, leasing, maintaining, servicing, repairing, altering, replacing, moving or installing any alarm system or causing any of the above to occur in or on any building, structure or facility.
ALARM SYSTEM: Any assembly of equipment, mechanical or electrical, arranged to signal the occurrence of an illegal entry or other activity or condition requiring urgent attention and to which the Police and/or Fire Department are expected to respond; however, this does not include audible alarms or fire detectors affixed to automobiles, or other motor vehicles, nor does it include audible alarm signals which may be heard only within a building, such as a smoke detector.
ALARM USER: A person, firm, partnership, association, corporation, company or other organization of any kind in control of any building, structure or facility where an alarm system is maintained or activated.
ALARM USER PERMIT: Permit issued annually by the Village permitting the alarm user to activate or maintain an alarm system. Permit issuance shall be evidenced by inclusion in the Village annual alarm permit user registration list. Paper permits shall be provided to any alarm user upon request.
AUTOMATIC DIALING DEVICE: A device which is interconnected to a telephone line and is programmed to select a predetermined telephone number and transmit by a voice message or code signal an emergency message indicating the need for an emergency response.
EMERGENCY ALARM ADMINISTRATOR: An employee of the Village of Oak Park, as designated by the Village Manager, whose responsibility is to coordinate the administration and documentation of alarm businesses and alarm systems performance as it relates to the effective enforcement of the provisions of this article.
FALSE ALARM: Any emergency alarm signal, either audible outside or delivered to a central station (including the Police Communications Center), that requires a response by emergency equipment where no emergency exists, as a result of equipment malfunction, improper installation or human error. The initial classification of alarms as false shall be the responsibility of the Police or Fire Departments as appropriate.
INTERCONNECT: To connect an alarm system, including an automatic dialing device to a telephone line, either directly or through a mechanical device that utilizes the telephone, for the purpose of using the telephone line to transmit a message upon activation of the alarm system.
LICENSE DIVISION: The division of the Fire Department of the Village of Oak Park authorized to issue permits and licenses and collect the fees for same as provided herein.
LOCAL ALARM: Those alarms that activate an audible signal within the proximity of a premises only.
PERMIT YEAR: A twelve (12) month period, beginning the first day of October and ending the last day of September of each year.
PRIMARY TRUNK LINE: A telephone line leading directly into the Oak Park Police Department for the purpose of handling emergency calls on a person to person basis, or which is identified by a specific number in the telephone directory. (Ord. 2010-0-46, 7-19-2010)
A. It shall be unlawful for any person, either directly or indirectly to conduct any business or not for profit enterprise that installs, connects, repairs or otherwise does any work on emergency alarms without first obtaining a license to do business as required by the state.
B. It shall be unlawful for any person to install or have installed any emergency alarm designed to protect any residential, commercial or business premises, or any other building either by local alarm or by any system that connects to a central station alarm without first obtaining a permit to install and operate said system as required by section 19-4-4 of this article.
C. Application for permits shall be made in writing to the Village Clerk as provided in section 19-4-4 of this article.
D. All permits issued shall be renewed at the end of each permit year. (Ord. 2010-0-46, 7-19-2010)
A. Every individual, firm or corporation that sells, installs, maintains or services, or does any other thing that would constitute an alarm business shall be licensed as required by the state as provided in the "private detective and private security act of 1983".
B. Every individual, firm or corporation that does engage in an alarm business in the Village shall notify the Emergency Alarm Administrator in writing indicating that such individual, firm or corporation is doing business in the Village. Such written notice shall include the name of the business, its address, telephone numbers where service personnel can be reached, and the license number given by the state. (Ord. 2010-0-46, 7-19-2010)
A. Every alarm user in the Village shall apply to the Licensing Division of the Village for an alarm user permit for each system used. The use of an alarm system is prohibited until a permit is secured.
B. Application for an annual alarm user's permit shall be accompanied by a permit fee of twenty five dollars ($25.00) for each application on behalf of a residential user, and fifty dollars ($50.00) for each application on behalf of a nonresidential user. The alarm user's permit application shall include:
1. The name, address, telephone number(s) and e-mail contact of the protected business, home, or other protected place.
2. The names, addresses, telephone numbers and e-mail contacts of at least three (3) responsible employees (or other persons for a residential location) who can be contacted by the Oak Park Communications Center in the event of break in, fire, other emergency or system malfunction. Persons named shall not reside in the alarmed premises.
3. The type of alarm to be installed: local, dialer or direct.
4. The purpose of the alarm, which, for example, may be single purpose burglar, fire, or dual purpose fire and burglar, holdup and burglar, or medic alert.
5. The method of protection interior and exterior, which, for example, may be foil tape, vibration sensor, ultrasonic, infrared, or panic switch.
6. The name, address and telephone number of the installation and service company responsible for the alarm system.
C. Alarm permits shall be valid from the date of issuance until the following September 30, provided, however, that a new alarm system permit which is applied for on or after August 15 of each year shall be valid until September 30 of the following year.
Application for a permit for a new alarm system must be made prior to the installation of the alarm, and no new alarm shall be installed or operated until the user obtains a permit.
Application for the renewal of alarm user permits shall be made by September 30 of each year. The permit fee for applications received after September 30 shall escalate as follows:
Residential
| Business
| |||
October 1 through November 30 | $ 50.00 | $100.00 | ||
On or after December 1 | 100.00 | 200.00 |
If any date falls on a day when Village Hall is closed for business, the effective date will be extended to the next Village business day.
D. Applications will be reviewed by the Emergency Alarm Administrator who shall approve the issuance of the permit upon determining that the applicant has fulfilled the requirements of this article.
E. Alarm permits are subject to revocation for reasons outlined in subsection 19-4-5D of this article. (Ord. 2012-0-35, 7-16-2012)
A. Each person servicing the operation or maintenance of an alarm of any type covered by this code shall be responsible for any false alarms transmitted by the device which they service.
B. The Emergency Alarm Administrator shall maintain a record of all alarms transmitted and, pursuant to the required notice and opportunity to be heard, may revoke the permit for the operation of an alarm involved in the transmission of six (6) false alarms in any calendar month not caused by unusual weather conditions or interruption of any telephone line service not the fault of the permit user.
C. The Emergency Alarm Administrator may order any alarm temporarily disconnected without prior notice in the event of a failure by that alarm system that jeopardizes the operation of other alarm systems in the Oak Park Communications Center. Pursuant to such action immediate steps will be taken to notify the permit user of such action and in every case, a letter shall be sent no later than the first regular business day after such disconnect to the user informing the user of this action. No alarm system shall be reconnected until repairs have been made and reported to the Oak Park Communications Center.
D. If the Emergency Alarm Administrator records a false alarm from the user's protected premises, the following procedure shall be utilized:
1. Upon receipt of the fourth false alarm within a one year period on an annual rolling basis, the Emergency Alarm Administrator shall issue a "P" ticket to the permit holder for each violation of this article which shall require a penalty per occurrence according to the following schedule or shall require a court appearance; except if said alarm is connected to the central alarm monitoring system located in the Police Department, in which case the alarm business owning the board shall pay to the Village, in addition to its monthly rental of the space for its central alarm monitoring system, a sum according to the following schedule per false alarm received through the alarm system.
PENALTY SCHEDULE
False Alarm Per One Year Period
| Penalty
|
False Alarm Per One Year Period
| Penalty
|
Fourth | $100.00 |
Fifth | 100.00 |
Sixth | 100.00 |
Seventh | 200.00 |
Eighth | 200.00 |
Ninth | 200.00 |
Tenth or more | 300.00 |
"Exception - No charge shall be imposed for false alarms for thirty (30) days from the date of installation and/or the date of major alterations or additions, nor shall a charge be made for false alarms activated by weather related conditions, telephone or electric line interruptions or other such unusual occurrences outside the ability of the alarm user to prevent."
2. On receipt of the fifth false alarm within the calendar month, the Emergency Alarm Administrator shall notify the permit holder and servicing alarm business by certified mail that any additional false alarms within the calendar month shall be cause to begin the process to revoke the alarm permit.
3. On receipt of the sixth false alarm within a calendar month, the Emergency Alarm Administrator shall notify the permit holder and servicing alarm business by certified mail that the alarm permit shall be revoked ten (10) days from the mailing date unless the alarm user and/or servicing alarm business:
a. Submits a report indicating corrective action that has been taken to correct the problems that has resulted in false alarms, or
b. Requests a hearing with the Emergency Alarm Administrator to indicate corrective action that has been taken or is planned, or reasons that the problems cannot currently be corrected but will be corrected in the near future. Such hearing must take place within twenty (20) days of the mailing of notice of intent to revoke the permit.
4. If the permit holder submits a written report, the Alarm Administrator shall determine if the corrective action may reasonably be expected to prevent further false alarms. If he or she determines that the actions should prevent additional false alarms, he or she shall notify the permit holder in writing that the permit will not be revoked.
5. If a hearing is requested, it shall be held within ten (10) working days of the request. The Emergency Alarm Administrator shall provide the permit holder with an opportunity to present such information as necessary to explain the false alarms and what actions have been or will be taken to prevent further occurrences. If the Alarm Administrator determines that corrective action is being taken to prevent false alarms, the permit holder shall be advised that the permit will not be revoked.
6. If no report is submitted and no hearing requested or if the information provided by the permit holder does not indicate that proper corrective action is being taken to prevent false alarms, the Emergency Alarm Administrator shall notify the permit holder that the alarm permit is revoked and that use of the alarm is not allowed.
7. If the permit holder is dissatisfied with the action taken by the Emergency Alarm Administrator, the permit holder may request a hearing before the Village Manager or his designee. Such request must be delivered in writing to the Village Manager within three (3) working days of the receipt of the notice of revocation, and such hearing must be held within ten (10) days of notice of revocation. A finding shall be rendered within ten (10) days of the hearing. No alarm will be disconnected by the Village during the hearing process, which shall include: a) the mandatory time allowed for the appeal of the decision of the Emergency Alarm Administrator, and b) the maximum time allowed to render an administrative decision.
E. An alarm permit may be revoked for failure to renew the permit. If no renewal application is made sixty (60) days after the renewal date the Emergency Alarm Administrator shall notify the permit holder by certified mail or e-mail that revocation shall take place ten (10) days from the mailing date unless the permit holder renews the permit accompanied by a new permit application fee per subsection 19-4-4B of this article or requests a hearing as outlined in this section.
F. Any building required to have a fire alarm system by the codes of the Village or the rules and regulations of the Illinois State Fire Marshal shall be exempt from the disconnection provisions of this article. However, all other penalties shall remain in effect. (Ord. 2010-0-46, 7-19-10)
A. Automatic dialing devices as defined in section 19-4-1 of this article shall within sixty (60) days from the effective date of this article be disconnected from any primary trunk line of the Village and shall be keyed to the central alarm monitoring system maintained in the Police Department. The content of the recorded message to be transmitted by such device shall be a digital tone approved by the alarm company maintaining the central alarm monitoring system.
B. All alarm users having an automatic dialing device which does not transmit a digital tone approved by the alarm company maintaining the central alarm monitoring system shall be given sixty (60) days to obtain a central answering point other than the Village. The alarm user may, at his expense, convert such automatic dialing device to a compatible digital tone.
C. Local alarms shall not resemble the sound of any emergency signal or civil defense alarm or siren. All local alarms shall have the capacity to reset themselves after fifteen (15) minutes. Local alarms presently in use as of the effective date of this article shall have six (6) months to comply with the requirements of this section.
D. Every alarm business selling, leasing, or furnishing to any user an alarm system for use in the Village shall furnish to the user instructions that provide information to enable the user to operate the alarm system properly and to obtain service for the alarm system at any time.
E. The sensory mechanism used in connection with any alarm system must be adjusted to suppress false indications of fire or intrusion so that the devices will not be actuated by impulses due to transient pressure changes in water pipes, short flashes of light, wind noises such as the rattling or vibrating of doors or windows, vehicular noise adjacent to the installation, or other forces unrelated to genuine alarms.
F. All components comprising an alarm system must be maintained by the permit holder in good repair to assure reliability of operation.
G. No person shall conduct any test or demonstration of an alarm system designed to make direct connection with the Police Department without first obtaining permission from the communication center. (Ord. 2010-0-46, 7-19-10)
Loading...