[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Trustees of the Village of Manorhaven
6-7-2000 by L.L. No. 4-2000. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Noise — See Ch. 97.
A.
The unregulated transmission of automatic tape alarm
systems in the village has, from time to time, resulted in the overtaxing
of facilities and in the impairment of the ability of the Police and Fire
Departments to respond to true emergencies. Additionally, the continued and
unnecessarily prolonged emission of sound from audible alarm systems to the
surrounding community and the difficulties and delays encountered in silencing
such systems have disturbed the rest and repose of residents of the village
and have caused police, fire and village personnel to spend excessive amounts
of time both in the investigation of those alarms and in the attempted silencing
of them, thereby preventing the devotion of time to the protection and general
welfare of the inhabitants of the village.
B.
It is necessary to the general welfare, peace and repose
of the village to protect its residents through the establishment of controls
of various types of fire, intrusion, holdup and other emergency signals from
fire and police alarm devices which require Fire Department or Police Department
response, investigation or safeguarding of property at the location of an
event reported by a signal transmitted by telephone or radio or otherwise
relayed to the Police Department or the Fire Department by an alarm device
requiring investigation or other action by any person acting in response to
a signal activated by any alarm device.
C.
The purpose and intent of this chapter is to improve
the availability of police and fire equipment and personnel for the handling
of emergency situations and to reduce the number of false alarms. It is hereby
declared that the noise emanating from audible alarms which continue to sound
either without the existence of an emergency situation or after the emergency
situation has ended constitutes a public nuisance.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings
indicated:
Any alarm device which automatically dials to a central station and
uses a pretaped or prerecorded message to alert the police that an emergency
exists or that the services of that department or of the Fire Department are
needed. "Alarm system" shall also mean any alarm device which automatically
emits an audible, visual or other response upon the occurrence of any hazard
or emergency and is intended to alert persons outside the building to the
existence of said hazard or emergency. The term shall also include the fire
alarms for the purposes of this chapter, but does not include alarm signals
transmitted to privately operated central stations.
Any company that is licensed and has submitted an application to
the local police; has been approved to install emergency alarm devices and
monitor pretaped or prerecorded messages; and who will notify the Fire or
Police Department that an emergency exists at a specific location.
Any fire or police alarm device which is a telephone device or telephone
attachment which automatically or electronically selects a telephone line
connected to a central station and reproduces a prerecorded message to report
a criminal act or other emergency requiring Police or Fire Department response.
Any signal actuated by an emergency alarm to which the Police or
Fire Department responds which is not the result of a fire, holdup, robbery
or other crime or emergency.
Any telephone number designated by the Police Department as a telephone
number through which members of the public may report an emergency or request
public assistance.
The Incorporated Village of Manorhaven.
All dialing devices operated by automatic means shall transmit messages
only to such numbers as may be designated for that purpose. After six months
following the effective date of this chapter, no person shall use, operate
or install any device which will, upon activation by automatic means, initiate
the dialing, calling or other connection with any emergency number other than
the designated alarm company central station.
No person shall use, operate or install any dialing device that will,
upon activation, automatically dial, call or connect with the telephone number
designated for the purpose of receiving such alarm messages, more than twice
for any one incident. Any system installed on or after the effective date
of this chapter must comply with this section. Preexisting installations must
comply within six months of the effective date of this chapter.
Upon the activation of a burglary (break-in) alarm, there shall be a
mandatory delay of at least 15 seconds before the transmission of a signal
to the alarm company central station to enable the user to abort the signal
in the event that it was triggered inadvertently. This delay shall not be
applicable to a robbery (hold-up), fire or medical emergency alarm. Any system
installed on or after the effective date of this chapter must comply with
this section. Preexisting installations must comply within six months of the
effective date of this chapter.
The user of every alarm system emitting an audible, visual or other
response shall, at the time such system is installed, or within six months
of the effective date of this chapter in the case of existing systems, install
or cause to be installed an automatic timing device which shall deactivate
such alarm so that it will be activated for no more than 20 minutes.
A.
The user of every alarm system maintained in the village,
except those installed in motor vehicles, shall, within 10 days of the installation
thereof or within 60 days of the enactment of this chapter, file the following
information with the Village Clerk:
(1)
Type of alarm system.
(2)
Street address and the nearest cross street of the building
which houses the alarm.
(3)
In the case of a commercial premises, the name, address
and telephone number of an authorized representative and/or an alternative
who will be able to respond when called by police to deactivate the alarm
system, if necessary.
(4)
In the case of a private residence, the name, address
and telephone number of a person who is not a resident of the private residence
in question and who will be able to deactivate the alarm system.
B.
Such filing requirements are applicable to all alarm
systems, whether the same are or are not directly connected to a designated
alarm company central station or are merely audible alarms. Such filing must
be made within the time period specified above, even though there shall have
been previous notification of the existence of such alarm systems to the Village
Clerk.
A.
The Village Clerk is hereby authorized to grant a revocable
permit to any owner, lessee or occupant of property located in the village
to operate, maintain, install or modify a police or fire alarm device, and
no such device shall be operated unless such permit shall have first been
issued.
B.
The Village Clerk shall charge a fee of $10 for the issuance
of any such permit.
C.
A permit issued pursuant to this chapter may be revoked
at any time or from time to time by the Village Clerk upon the giving of 10
days' notice in writing, by registered or certified mail, to the permittee,
sent to the address shown on the permit. The violation of this chapter, following
conviction thereof, shall constitute grounds for the revocation of the permit;
the failure of the Village Clerk to revoke the permit following a finding
by the Village Court that there has been a violation of this chapter shall
not be deemed a waiver of the rights to revoke the permit.
A.
No person shall intentionally, negligently, carelessly
or erroneously cause a false alarm. The user of the alarm system shall be
solely and wholly responsible for any false alarms. Negligent or careless
acts shall include improper maintenance and insufficient or inadequate instructions
to tenants, employees, agents, children or others concerned with or having
access to the operation of the alarm system.
B.
Charges.
(1)
Any owner or lessee of property having a fire or police
alarm device or system of fire or police alarm devices on his or its premises
on the effective date of this chapter and any user of services or equipment
furnished by a licensee under this chapter shall pay to the village a charge
for each and every false emergency alarm to which the Police or Fire Department
responds, in each calendar year, as follows:
(2)
The above charges shall be paid to the Village Clerk.
Failure to pay any such charges shall subject such owner, lessee or user to
the penalty provisions of this chapter.
In the event that an alarm system emitting an audible, visual or other similar response shall fail to be deactivated within the time limitation specified in § 25-6 above, the village shall have the right to take such action as may be necessary in order to disconnect any such alarm.
Any person who violates the provisions of this chapter shall be guilty
of a violation and, upon conviction, shall be subject to such fines as may
be imposed by the Village Justice in accordance with the provisions of the
Code of the Village of Manorhaven.
If any part or parts of this chapter are for any reason held to be invalid,
such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this
chapter. The Board of Trustees hereby declares that it would have passed the
local law enacting this chapter and each section, subsection, sentence, clause
and phrase thereof irrespective of the fact that any one or more sections,
subsections, sentences, clauses or phrases might be declared invalid.