[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Council of the City of Atlantic
City 12-14-1983 by Ord. No. 76-1983. Section 220-4 amended at time
of adoption of Code; see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I. Other
amendments noted where applicable.]
The following words used herein shall have the definitions set
forth below:
Units of dwelling space rented, offered for rent or available
for rent to tenants, including any room or rooms, or suite or apartment
or single-family dwelling, whether furnished or unfurnished, which
are occupied or intended, arranged or designed to be occupied for
sleeping and/or dwelling purposes by one or more persons together
with all privileges, services, furnishings, furniture, equipment,
facilities and improvements connected with the use or occupancy thereof.
Detection devices which sense visible or invisible particles
of combustion and which, when activated, provide an alarm sufficiently
audible to warn all occupants within the dwelling unit(s), whether
such occupants are sleeping or awake, and which are approved, listed,
and labeled by Underwriters' Laboratories, Inc. (U.L.).
Smoke detector(s) shall conform to Underwriters' Laboratories
standards and be either 120 volt (A.C.) and/or nine volt (D.C.) powered
ionization and/or photoelectric type devices.
Smoke detector(s) shall be installed in each rental dwelling unit in locations selected to effectively provide an alarm as described in § 220-1 of this chapter and shall be installed within 10 feet of the doorway to each sleeping area within the dwelling unit.
Upon the effective date of this chapter, no occupancy permit, pursuant to Chapter 194, Occupancy Permits, or any amendments thereto, or any other ordinance, regulation or statute shall be issued for any rental dwelling unit(s) unless the appropriate municipal authority certifies that a smoke detector(s) has been installed in the unit for which said permit is to be issued, in a location such as described in § 220-3 of this chapter, and that it is in proper working condition.
A.
It shall be the responsibility of the owner(s), landlord and/or managing
agent of each rental dwelling unit(s) subject to the terms of this
chapter, to have installed and maintained smoke detector(s) required
by this chapter, and it shall be unlawful for any such owner(s), landlord
and/or managing agent to fail or refuse to install such smoke detector(s)
in accordance with this chapter or to fail to maintain the detector(s)
in proper working condition.
B.
It shall be the responsibility of the tenant and/or occupant of each
rental dwelling unit, at his/her own cost and expense, to maintain
and replace batteries of all battery-operated smoke detector(s) installed
by the owner in said rental dwelling unit(s). Any tenant and/or occupant
who fails to maintain and replace such battery shall be in violation
of this chapter.
C.
The responsibility of the tenant and/or occupant to maintain or replace
the battery shall not relieve the owner of the responsibility to maintain
the smoke detector in proper operating condition other than the battery
in the rental dwelling unit.
D.
It shall be unlawful for any tenant, occupant, owner, landlord, managing
agent or any other person to intentionally interfere or tamper with,
damage, destroy, remove, paint, or do anything to cause a smoke detector
or any of its parts to malfunction or fail to operate.
E.
Testing requirements. It shall be the responsibility of the tenant
and/or occupant of each rental dwelling unit to test or inspect each
smoke detector as recommended by the manufacturer but not less than
once a week for battery-powered detector(s) and not less than once
a month for other than battery-powered detector(s).
A.
The city officials charged with the duty of enforcing this chapter
shall be the officials and employees of the Bureau of Health, the
Fire Department, the Bureau of Investigations and Inspections and
uniformed members of the Police Department.
B.
In addition to the enforcement of this chapter by the aforementioned
officials, any person may institute and file a complaint in the Municipal
Court of the City of Atlantic City as to any violation of the provisions
of this chapter.
[Amended 11-25-2008 by Ord. No. 104]
Any person, firm or corporation violating any provision of this
chapter shall, upon conviction in the Municipal Court of Atlantic
City, be punished for each offense by a fine not to exceed $2,000
or by imprisonment for any term not to exceed 90 days in the county
jail or at any place provided by the municipality for the detention
of prisoners, or both, at the sole discretion of a Municipal Judge.
