(A) It is hereby found and determined that any alarm activation in excess of three, regardless of the cause of the alarm activation, at the same address within any calendar year shall be deemed to be a public nuisance, an excessive burden on the responding city/county departments and a corresponding burden to the taxpayers of the city to continuously incur the cost of dispatching emergency and/or sheriff's vehicles to a particular location. Should an alarm require the Broward County Sheriff's Office, the Fire Department or medical personnel to respond in excess of three alarms, the responsible party including, but not limited to, the real property owner where the alarm is located, shall be jointly and severally liable for and pay a service charge of $25 for the fourth alarm incident, $50 for the fifth alarm incident, $100 for the sixth alarm incident and each subsequent alarm incident occurring within the then current calendar year.
(B) Any registration holder or responsible party that has been cited and/or noticed for a violation of this chapter may seek a review by the Police Chief, or his or her designee, of a determination of the police officer responding to the alarm that an alarm incident has occurred. The registration holder may also seek review by the Fire Chief,or his or her designee, of a determination of a fire official responding to the alarm that an alarm incident has occurred. To obtain this review, a written request by the registration holder or responsible party for the maintenance of the alarm, setting forth facts and circumstances tending to show that the activation of the alarm was a result of criminal activity or attempted criminal activity in the case of a determination made by a police officer or that the activation of the alarm is the result of a pending threat of fire or medical emergency in the case of a determination made by a fire official shall be filed with the Police Chief or the Fire Chief within ten days from the date printed on the alarm incident billing statement provided by the city to the registration holder. If the Police Chief or Fire Chief, as appropriate, determines that the facts and circumstances set forth in the report are valid, the Police Chief or Fire Chief shall then excuse the occurrence; and the occurrence shall not constitute an alarm incident for the purposes of this section. Notice of any such decision will be sent in writing to the permit holder or responsible party with a copy to the Building Official. Until such time as the Police Chief or Fire Chief has made their determination, the occurrence upon which the report is based shall be considered genuine and will not be considered an alarm incident.
(C) Failure to pay any service charge for alarm incidents when due shall be a violation of this chapter and the responsible parties shall be subject to appropriate action which shall include, but not be limited to, prosecution before the Special Magistrate for Code Enforcement pursuant to the provisions as contained within Ch. 37 of this code of ordinances, or prosecution in the County Court. In addition, every outstanding service charge shall be subject to a monthly penalty of 10% of the original amount of the service charge for each month the charge is overdue.
(Ord. 85-20, passed 1-29-85; Am. Ord. 92-04, passed 10-29-91; Am. Ord. 92-28, passed 2-25-92; Am. Ord. 93-30, passed 3-2-93; Am. Ord. 2005-63, passed 6-28-05)