[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors
of the Township of Upper Uwchlan 10-17-2004 by Ord. No. 94-04.
Amendments noted where applicable.]
This chapter shall be known as the "Township
of Upper Uwchlan Automatic Protection Device Ordinance."
The following definitions shall apply to the
interpretation and enforcement of this chapter:
A service whereby trained employees, in attendance at all
times, receive prerecorded voice messages from automatic protection
devices or other electronic means reporting an emergency at a stated
location and who have the duty to relay immediately by live voice
only such emergency message.
Any device, bell, horn or siren, which is attached to the
interior or exterior of a building and emits a warning signal audible
outside the building and designed to attract attention when activated
by a criminal act or other emergency requiring police to respond.
An electrically or battery operated instrument composed of
sensory apparatus and related hardware which automatically transmits,
either directly or indirectly, any form of alarm or signal, upon receipt
of a stimulus from a sensory apparatus that has detected a physical
force or condition inherently characteristic of intrusion.
Any person, firm or corporation who sells or leases and/or
installs automatic protection devices.
The head or acting head of the Police Department of the Township
of Upper Uwchlan.
[Amended 1-17-2006 by Ord. No. 06-01]
Any signal activated by an automatic protection device, including
any audible alarm, or any other kind of direct or indirect signal
given to the police or fire company, to which the police or fire company
are intended to respond, which is not the result of an actual and/or
attempted burglary, robbery, fire or similar emergency.
To use a telephone or recording equipment to transmit a message,
either directly or indirectly, by an automatic protection device.
The Township of Upper Uwchlan, Chester County, Pennsylvania.
A.
Compliance with chapter. All who own, install, operate,
repair, maintain, test or otherwise use automatic protection devices
in the Township must do so in compliance with this chapter.
B.
Compliance with National Electric Code. Automatic
protection devices, suppliers and installers must conform to the requirements
contained in the National Electric Code as they pertain to installations,
inspections and testings of such devices.
A.
Within 90 days from the effective date of this chapter,
each automatic protection device supplier who has installed an automatic
protection device in the Township shall furnish to the Chief of Police
a current list of such installations, which shall include the following
information:
(1)
The name, address and telephone number of the owner
or lessee.
(2)
The name and address where the device is installed
and the telephone number of that address.
(3)
The name, address and telephone number of any answering
service or any other person or firm who is authorized to respond to
an emergency and gain access to the address where the device is installed.
(4)
The name and telephone number of any person, firm
or corporation, if any, other than the automatic protection device
supplier who is responsible for maintenance and repair of the automatic
protection device.
B.
Maintaining a list of installations. By the fifth working day of each month following the submission of the initial list, each automatic protection device supplier shall furnish the Chief of Police with a supplemental list of any additions, corrections or deletions from lists previously furnished. An automatic protection device supplier who enters into the business after the effective date of this chapter shall furnish a list containing the information specified in Subsection A by the fifth working day of the month following a first installation and shall thereafter furnish supplemental lists as required by this section.
C.
Confidentiality of the list. All information furnished
pursuant to these sections shall be kept confidential and shall be
for the use of the Township only.
Each automatic protection device supplier who
sells or leases an alarm in the Township after the effective date
of this chapter shall furnish operating instructions and a maintenance
manual to the buyer or lessee.
Automatic protection device suppliers and installers
shall furnish, at their own expense, at or prior to the time of contracting,
a copy of this chapter to owners, lessees or users of the equipment
or services to be supplied.
A.
Each automatic protection device supplier who sells
or leases an automatic protection device in the Township shall make
service available directly or through an agent on a twenty-four-hour-per-day
basis, seven days a week, to repair such devices and to correct malfunctions
as they occur. Such service shall be made available to any person
using an automatic protection device at such user's expense. Any person
using an automatic protection device shall make arrangements for service
to be available to such device on a twenty-four-hour-per-day, seven-day-per-week
basis.
B.
Disclosure of availability of repair service. At the
time of installation, an automatic protection device supplier shall
furnish to any buyer or lessee using a repair service, written information
as to how service may be obtained at any time, including the telephone
number of the automatic protection device supplier or agent responsible
for service. The buyer or lessee of the automatic protection device
supplier or agent supplying a service shall be responsible for having
the device disconnected or repaired as quickly as possible after notice
that the automatic protection device is not functioning properly.
A.
Installation. Automatic protection devices with audible
alarms on location may be installed in Township residences and business
establishments as long as they are registered and comply with the
provisions of this chapter.
B.
Timing device required. Automatic protection devices
must be equipped with a timing device which will disconnect the audible
alarm after a maximum period of 15 minutes. Audible alarms without
such devices are prohibited in the Township and must be modified to
include the timing device or be disconnected by the owner or lessee
within 60 days from the effective date of this chapter.
Any person who has an automatic protection device
in the Township may arrange to have such device keyed to an answering
service authorized to relay emergency messages to the Emergency Service
Dispatcher/Township Police Department. The relay of messages by authorized
answering services shall be over the primary trunk line. Automatic
protection devices keyed to an authorized answering service may also
be keyed to another telephone which the owner or lessee of the automatic
protection device has available to himself or his representative at
some other location.
The public safety requires that the incidence
of false alarms and malfunctioning automatic protection devices be
kept to a minimum so as to reduce unnecessary calls to the Police
Department and to increase the effectiveness of properly functioning
automatic protection devices. In order to enforce this chapter and
to reduce the incidence of false alarms and malfunctioning automatic
protection devices, it is necessary that appropriate Township officials
have the right to inspect the installation and operation of any automatic
protection device installed in the Township. Continuance of the installation
of any automatic protection device already installed at the effective
date of this chapter shall constitute consent by the owner or lessee
thereof and authorization for the inspection of any such installation
and/or operation of any such automatic protection device by the Chief
of Police, Township Zoning Officer, Township Building Code Officer
or any other designated agent of the Township. All such entries upon
the premises upon which an automatic protection device is installed
and all such inspections of installation and operation of automatic
protection devices shall be at reasonable times and upon reasonable
notice, except in an emergency situation.
[Amended 1-17-2006 by Ord. No. 06-01]
A.
For the purpose of defraying the cost to the Township of responding to false alarms, the owner or lessee of an automatic protection device with or without audible alarms, persons using the services of an intermediary and users of any other kind of direct or indirect connection with the police or fire communication centers, except persons using the two-way live-voice communication by telephone, shall, as a condition to installation and continued operation of such equipment or service, execute a consent in such form as may be prescribed by the Township that such owner, lessee or user shall pay the Township for all false alarms following the third false alarm, according to Subsection B, for each false alarm originating from the owner's premises that has not been activated by some force of nature or means beyond the owner's, lessee's or user's control.
B.
A person that owns, uses or possesses an alarm device
or automatic dialing device may not, after causing or permitting three
false alarms to occur in a consecutive twelve-month period, cause
or permit a subsequent false alarm to occur in the same consecutive
twelve-month period. A person that violates this subsection commits
a summary offense and shall, upon conviction, be sentenced to pay
a fine of not more than $300.
A.
Any such owner, lessee or user who fails to execute the consent described in § 43-11 within 90 days from the effective date of this chapter shall, within the ninety-day period, disconnect the automatic protection device or any other kind of direct or indirect communication with the police or fire communication centers and shall discontinue using the service of any intermediaries.
B.
Any owner, lessee, or user of an automatic protection device may revoke or refuse to consent as set forth in § 43-11 above only by disconnecting the automatic protection device. With respect to such devices installed at the effective date of this chapter, the owner, lessee or user can refuse or revoke the aforesaid consent by disconnecting such automatic protection device within 90 days from the effective date of this chapter.
Any police officer responding to an alarm which
is determined to be false shall promptly notify the person in whose
name the alarm is registered of the false alarm.
When messages evidencing failure to comply with
the operation requirements, as set forth in this chapter, are received
by the Township, and the Township concludes that the automatic protection
device sending such messages should be disconnected in order to relieve
the Township Police Department of the burden of responding to false
alarms, the Township may require that the owner or lessee of the device,
or his representative, disconnect the device until it is made to comply
with said operational requirements. If disconnection of the defective
device is not accomplished promptly, and the Township determines that
the malfunctioning device is repeatedly sending false alarms without
any intermittent, valid alarms, the Township may then take any action
necessary to terminate the receiving of alarms.
[Amended 1-17-2006 by Ord. No. 06-01]
Any person who violates or permits a violation
of this chapter shall, upon being found liable therefor in a civil
enforcement proceeding commenced by the Township before a Magisterial
District Judge, pay a fine of not more than $600, plus all court costs,
including reasonable attorney's fees, incurred by the Township in
the enforcement of this chapter. No judgment shall be imposed until
the date of the determination of the violation by the Magisterial
District Judge. If the defendant neither pays nor timely appeals the
judgment, the Township may enforce the judgment pursuant to the applicable
Rules of Civil Procedure. Each day a violation exists shall constitute
a separate offense. Further, the appropriate officers or agents of
the Township are hereby authorized to seek equitable relief, including
injunction, to enforce compliance herewith.
