[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Trustees
of the Village of Ocean Beach 11-4-2006 by L.L. No. 8-2006. Amendments noted where
applicable.]
As used in this chapter, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
The Suffolk County Department of Fire, Rescue and Emergency
Services.
The Incorporated Village of Ocean Beach.
This chapter shall be known as the "Alarm System
Regulations."
No homeowner, business owner, resident, tenant
or occupant (hereinafter all referred to as "resident") of any building
or within any building, residence, home accessory building, school,
church, synagogue or other structure (hereinafter referred to as "premises")
shall connect or maintain any alarm system, calling device, signaling
device or other mechanical apparatus which directly or indirectly
is intended to signal or alert the Village of Ocean Beach police station
or telephone line and/or telecommunications line or FIRECOM without
first obtaining an alarm permit and satisfying Village standards for
alarm systems and this chapter of the Village Code. A permit is also
required for audible alarms that are not connected directly or indirectly
to signal or alert the police station or FIRECOM. Any change in ownership
of property shall require the submission of an application to operate
an alarm system and the issuance of an alarm permit.
Upon submission of the application to operate
an alarm system in conformity with the standards imposed herein and
upon payment of the applicable permit fee, the Village Clerk shall
issue a permit for each alarm. Any permit issued pursuant to this
chapter shall be nontransferable, and the permit fee shall be nonrefundable.
Applicable permit fees shall be set by resolution of the Board of
Trustees of the Village of Ocean Beach.
An annual permit service fee shall be due and
payable as of January 1 of each calendar year for each alarm. In the
event any such service permit fee is not paid on or before April 15
of each such year, said fee, plus an administrative charge, shall
be levied against the real property as a lien having the same priority
as a Village tax and being deemed as part of the annual Village tax
for all purposes. The annual permit service fee and the administrative
charge shall be set by resolution of the Board of Trustees of the
Village of Ocean Beach.
Alarm systems in use at the effective date of
these regulations shall be required to comply with these regulations
within 60 days of the effective date of this regulation. Failure to
comply may result in the existing system being removed from service
without further notice to the resident.
A.
For purposes of these regulations, a "false alarm"
shall be one which needlessly or erroneously signals or alerts the
Village police station, FIRECOM, Village Fire Department or other
Village employee(s) and/or volunteers. The holder of a Village alarm
permit shall be solely and wholly responsible for any and all false
alarm(s) to police, FIRECOM, Fire Department and/or employee(s) of
the Incorporated Village of Ocean Beach. False alarms may result in
revocation of the permit to operate the system by the Village of Ocean
Beach and the system being removed from service if deemed appropriate
by the Village.
B.
The Officer in Charge at the scene of a call for service
shall make a determination as to whether the signal was a false alarm
or not. Upon a determination that the signal was a false alarm, the
Officer in Charge shall have a notice of violation issued. Upon determination
of a second false alarm issued concerning the same subject premises
in a calendar year, a summons will be issued returnable to the Village
Justice Court for that false alarm and for each subsequent false alarm.
Records of all such determinations, notices of violations and summonses
shall be maintained by the Village of Ocean Beach Police Department.
[Amended 7-18-2015 by L.L. No. 1-2015]
C.
Upon the fourth false alarm during a calendar year,
the Village shall notify the property owner/permit holder/fire alarm
system owner in writing by certified mail. Thereafter, the Village,
in its discretion, reserves the right to revoke the existing permit,
refuse to renew and/or direct the resident to modify the existing
system so as to eliminate the cause of the false alarms. Revocation
or refusal to renew shall only be after a hearing before the Board
of Trustees on notice to the permit holder. Notice of revocation or
refusal to renew shall also be by certified mail sent at least 15
days before such revocation and/or end of permit period. In case of
revocation, the Village shall have the right to remove the alarm system
from service. Costs of modifying or removing an alarm system from
service shall be the responsibility of the resident.
[Amended 7-18-2015 by L.L. No. 1-2015]
D.
The Village recognizes that widespread false alarms
may occur from forces beyond control of residents, such as rain, lightning
or other unforeseeable and unintentional reasons. In such event(s),
resulting false alarm(s) may be excused by the Ocean Beach Fire Department
or the Ocean Beach Police Department and shall not be counted as a
false alarm.
A.
In the event of a malfunction in the system or connection
directly or indirectly to police headquarters and/or FIRECOM, the
owner of the system will be notified in writing that he has three
business days from receipt of said notice in which to correct the
malfunction and restore the system to proper operating condition.
If at the end of three business days the malfunction has not been
corrected, the alarm may be removed from service at police headquarters
and/or Suffolk County and may be ordered out of service at the residence.
Upon reapplication to the Village of Ocean Beach by the owner or lessee
of the system in the form of a written certification by an approved
alarm business that the malfunction has been corrected, the system
will be reconnected to the appropriate monitor console/system. Costs
of removal and reconnection shall be the responsibility and at the
expense of the resident.
B.
The Village shall have no responsibility for equipment
costs, installation charges or damages resulting from the failure
of the alarm system to operate or failure of the Village to respond
to an alarm, or for losses incurred as a result of equipment or systems
no longer useful or for reasons of Village permit revocation or refusal
by the Village to renew permits or changes in standards rendering
system(s) useless.
This section applies to all alarm systems and
equipment either existing or installed after the effective date of
these regulations.
A.
Every system with an alarm bell or signal audible
from outside the house, whether such system is connected directly
or indirectly to police headquarters and/or FIRECOM or operates independently,
must be equipped with a device which automatically shuts off the outside
alarm bell or signal within 15 minutes from its having been activated.
B.
All police and fire alarm equipment sold or leased
within the Village of Ocean Beach must meet reasonable safety standards,
such as those acceptable to Underwriters' Laboratories or equivalent.
C.
Every system must be equipped with a time delay of
at least 20 seconds before signal connection to Police Department
and/or FIRECOM is activated.
D.
Every system connected directly or indirectly to the
Village Police Department and/or FIRECOM must be equipped with a visible
or audible indicator that the alarm system is in operation. This indicator
must be installed in an obvious location at the principal entrance/exit
for the residence. It may be located on either the inside or the outside
of the residence.
E.
Every system connected directly or indirectly to the
Village Police Department and/or FIRECOM which signals both a fire
alarm and a burglar alarm shall be equipped with separate distinguishing
signal for each kind of alarm.
A.
Alarm business(es) operating within the Village must
maintain a place of business that is reasonably accessible to the
Village of Ocean Beach for the inspection of records.
B.
Alarm business(es) operating within the Village must
maintain and keep available for inspection adequate records of all
sales. installations, modifications, maintenance and service agreements
of police and fire alarm devices performed by said business in the
Village of Ocean Beach. These records must include the names and addresses
of alarm agents who sold, installed, modified, maintained or serviced
each individual system and the date said agent(s) was present at the
premises.
C.
All alarm businesses must provide proof of insurance
saving the Village of Ocean Beach harmless against any claim arising
out of the sale, installation, service, maintenance or operation of
a police and/or fire alarm device in the Village of Ocean Beach.
D.
Alarm businesses must have twenty-four-hour-a-day
service.
E.
Agents and employees of alarm businesses shall not
have any record of criminal offense against people or property.
[Amended 7-18-2015 by L.L. No. 1-2015; 7-13-2019 by L.L. No. 03-2019
Any person found violating any provision of
the chapter shall be guilty of an offense and shall be adjudged a
disorderly person and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punishable
by a fine or imprisonment, or both. Fines for conviction of a first
offense shall not be less than $250 nor more than $750. Fines for
a second conviction of a violation of this chapter shall not be less
than $750 nor more than $1,500. Fines for a third and subsequent convictions
of a violation of this chapter shall not be less than $1,500 nor more
than $3,000, or imprisonment for not more than 15 days, or both.
