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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrdinance_435_04/16/1992I • ' ORDINANCE NO. 435 AN ORDINANCE OF THE VILLAGE COUNCIL OF THE VILLAGE OF TEQUESTA, FLORIDA, AMENDING ARTICLE II OF CHAPTER 2.5 OF THE VILLAGE OF TEQUESTA CODE OF ORDINANCES BY AMENDING THE TITLE; AMENDING THE DEFINITIONS; AMENDING THE APPLICATION FEE; PROVIDING FOR AUTHORITY OF THE CODE ENFORCEMENT BOARD; PROHIBITING AUTOMATIC PRERECORDED MESSAGES TO THE POLICE DEPARTMENT; PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY; PROVIDING FOR REPEAL OF ORDINANCES IN CONFLICT; PROVIDING FOR CODIFICATION; PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. BE ORDAINED BY THE VILLAGE COUNCIL OF THE VILLAGE OF TEQUESTA, PALM BEACH COUNTY, FLORIDA, AS FOLLOWS: Section 1. Article II, Chapter 2.5, of the Village Code relating to Burglar Alarms is hereby amended in its entirety to read as follows: "ARTICLE II. ALARMS Sec. 2.5-11. Short title. This article may be cited as "The Alarm Ordinance." SeC. 2.5-12. Definitions. As used in this article the following words shall have the meanings ascribed to them by this section: Alarm shall mean any device which is designed and used in a building for the detection and alerting of others of unauthorized entry, burglary, fire, robbery, medical emergency, panic buttons, or any alarm which requires a police response and which emits a sound, signal or message when activated. Alarm business shall mean any person licensed to sell, lease, maintain, service, repair, alter, replace, move or install any alarm for any building, place or premises. Alarm user shall mean any person using an alarm. Class "A" alarms shall mean all those alarms activated by forced or illegal entry or attempted entry, any criminal activity, other real emergencies, or those caused by an act of nature or off-premises error and not contributed to by faulty maintenance, installation or usage. Class "B" alarms shall mean all activated alarms which do not ctualifv as Class "A" alarm responses. Person shall mean an individual, partnership or corporation. Sec. 2.5-13. Requirement for alarm permit. It shall be unlawful for any person to have an alarm set up to be operational unless that person first obtains an alarm permit from the village. 1 1 Sec. 2.5-14. Exemption. This article shall not apply to alarms attached to motor vehicles or to publicly-owned property. Sec. 2.5-15. Application for Permit. Applications for alarm permits shall be made to the chief of police on forms provided by the chief . Each application shall be accompanied by a fee of twenty dollars ($20.00). The application shall state the name, address, and telephone number of the applicant's property to be serviced by the alarm, and the name and address and telephone number of the applicant's residence, if different. If the applicant's alarm is installed or serviced by an alarm business, then the applicant shall also include the name and address of that business. A permit cannot be issued if the alarm business intended to be used is not licensed by the village. Each permit shall be valid for a period of not more than one (1) year, a permit period beginning on October 1st and ending on September 30th of the subsequent year. Sec. 2.5-16. Issuance of alarm permit. The chief of police shall issue an alarm permit only after receiving the completed applications and only after the chief determines that the proposed alarm will be correctly installed, maintained and used. Any denial shall give definite reasons. An application for the alarm permit may be denied if an applicant falsifies any information on the application and a knowing falsification shall be a violation of this article. The chief may consider the type of alarm and its history of functioning correctly, its proposed method of installation and any other pertinent factors. Sec. 2.5017. Appeals. Any applicant who is denied an alarm permit may seek review of his denial by certiorari in the circuit court after first appealing to the village council. Sec. 2.5-18. Revocation of.permit. An alarm permit may be revoked by the chief of police if the alarm user or his designated agent: (a) Fails to respond to his activated alarm within a reasonable time when requested to do so by the police department; or (b) Refuses to allow the police department to conduct a reasonable inspection of the installed alarm pursuant to section 2.5-21 of this article; or (c) When his alarm system has signaled more than five (5) Class "B" alarms to which the police department responds within a period of six (6) consecutive months; or (d) When an alarm user has been found to have falsified information on the alarm user's permit application; or (e) When an alarm user fails to pay the service charge described in sections 2.5-19 and 2.5-20 hereof . 2 Sec. 2.5-19. Reinstatement. If a permit has been revoked due to excessive alarms, reinstatement can be obtained only if a licensed alarm company inspects or repairs the system and submits a report to the police department stating what had been done to correct the problems and that the system is in working order. If the alarm is maintained by th® user and he refuses to redesign or make any changes that a licensed alarm business recommends, or will not allow a licensed alarm business to inspect or repair the system, then any Class "B" alarm received by the police department while the permit is revoked will require payment of a fifty dollar ($50.00) fee. Any alarm user found to be operating an alarm in violation of the alarm user's permit will pay a fine of twenty-five dollars ($25.00) to be added to the original Twenty Dollars ($20.00) in order to be reinstated. Sec. 2.5-20. Service charge and appearance request. It is hereby found and determined that five (5) class "8" alarms within one (1) year is excessive and constitutes a public nuisance. Should an alarm require the police department to respond to in excess of five (5) Class "B" alarms within one (1) year, the alarm user shall pay to the Village of Tequesta a fee not to exceed twenty-five dollars ($25.00) as a service charge for each excessive alarm so signaled. In the event the alarm user, upon notice, fails to pay the service charge within thirty (30) days of date of notice, the alarm user shall be requested to appear in person before the Code Enforcement Board of the village. The Code Enforcement Board will use any of its powers to bring the alarm user to compliance including, but not limited to, directing a lien to be filed on the alarm user's property. The alarm user may appear before the Code Enforcement Board to explain or give any pertinent information as to why the alarm is being activated and to what extent the user has tried to correct the problem. An alarm business representative may appear with the user to explain any service history or corrections now taking place. Any alarm user requested to appear before the Code Enforcement Board shall be notified by certified mail or by a member of the police department designated to issue a summons. If an alarm user fails to appear before the Code Enforcement Board, a fee of fifty dollars ($50.00) will automatically be charged to the user for each offense. Sec. 2.5-21. Inspection by chief of police. After notice to the alarm user, the chief of police is authorized to inspect the installed alarm. Sec. 2.5-22. Exemption hearing. Any alarm user whose permit has been revoked may appeal such action by filing an application for hearing before the Code Enforcement Board of the village within thirty (30) days. At the hearing, the user may present evidence and witnesses to support his claim that the revocation was unwarranted. The burden of proving that such action was improper falls upon the appellant. After hearing the presentation, and after taking into consideration all other factors which it deems relevant, the Code Enforcement Board may recommend a course of action to the chief of police. f 3 sec. 2.5-23. Reporting service information. Each alarm user shall maintain a current information card with the police department, containing his name, address and telephone number as well as the name, address and telephone number of the person or persons who can render service to the alarm system at any hour of the day or night. Each alarm user shall immediately inform the police department of any and all changes in the information on file with the police department regarding such permit. Failure to so inform the police department may constitute grounds for revocation of the permit. Sec. 2.5-24. Prohibitions. (a) All audible alarms on the outside of a building must cut off automatically no longer than thirty (30) minutes after being set off in all commercial "C" zones; fifteen (15) minutes in all "R" zoned residential areas or any land use containing residential uses. (b) No person shall use or cause to be used any telephone or electronic device or attachment that automatically selects a public primary telephone trunk line of the public safety department or any other department or bureau of the village, and then reproduces any prerecorded message to report any burglary, unauthorized entry of other emergency. Sec. 2.5-25. Criminal .penalties. A violation of this article shall be punishable according to law. Sec. 2.5-26 Limitation of liability. Neither the police department nor the Village of Tequesta shall be under any obligation or duty to an alarm user or to any other person hereunder by reason of this article. The police department and the Village of Tequesta specifically disclaim liability for any damages which may be caused by failure to respond to an alarm. Section 2. Severability. If any provision of this Ordinance or the application thereof is held invalid, such invalidity shall not affect the other provisions or applications of this Ordinance which can be given effect without the invalid provisions or applications, and to this end, the provisions of this Section 3. Repeal of Ordinances in Conflict. All other ordinances of the Village of Tequesta, Florida, or parts thereof which conflict with this or any part of this Ordinance are hereby repealed. 7 Ordinance are hereby declared severable. Section 4. Codification. This Ordinance shall be codified and made a part of the official Code of Ordinances of the Village of Tequesta. Section 5. Effective Date. This Ordinance shall take effect immediately upon its passage and approval, as provided by law. THE FOREGOING ORDINANCE was offered by Councilmember i~Iackail who moved its adoption. The Ordinance was seconded by Councilmember Burckart and upon being put to a vote, the vote was as follows: 4 .~. FOR ADOPTION .7nsPnh N_ ('anrPtta Ron T. Mackail Earl L. Collings William E. Burckart Edward C. Howell AGAINST ADOPTION The Mayor thereupon declared the Ordinance duly passed and adopted this 16th day of ~~r;1 , 1992. MAYOR OF TEQUESTA arl Collings ATTEST: V lla a Clerk g JCR\131530RDU~ARM.ORD I 7 5