[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the Town of Niagara 3-8-1994 by L.L. No. 3-1994. Amendments noted where applicable.]
This chapter shall be known as the "Town of Niagara False Alarm Law."
The purpose of this chapter is to protect and promote the health, safety and general welfare of the residents of the Town of Niagara by reducing the number of false alarms of fire, intrusion, holdup or other emergencies which contribute to the ineffective use of emergency response agencies, require emergency responses which are susceptible to high accident rates, interfere with genuine emergencies (responses) and produce unnecessary alarm noises to the surrounding community.
For the purpose of this chapter, the following words, terms and phrases shall have the meanings respectfully ascribed to them by this section:
Any person or persons engaged in the sale, leasing, installation, maintenance or service of alarm systems or who, in any manner, cause the sale, leasing, installation, maintenance or service of alarm systems in or on any building, structure or facility within the Town of Niagara. An alarm business shall be licensed through New York State.
A notice or decal posted in a prominent location on a building at which an alarm is operational which shall contain an assigned identification number.
Any assembly of equipment or devices arranged to signal the presence of a hazard requiring urgent attention which is directly or indirectly connected to police, fire or emergency medical services and to which police, fire or emergency medical services agencies are expected to respond. An alarm system shall include automatic dialing devices.
[Amended 1-10-1995 by L.L. No. 1-1995]
Any person using an alarm, including the owner or lessee of real property where an alarm is located.
Any device that automatically dials and relays a prerecorded message to an emergency agency.
Activation of an alarm system through mechanical failure, malfunction, improper installation, or the negligence of the owner, user, custodian or lessee of any alarm systems or of his or her employees, requiring an emergency response when, in fact, an emergency does not exist, or the intentional activation of an alarm system when the activator knows an emergency situation does not exist. A false alarm does not include alarms activated by violent conditions of nature or similar causes beyond the control of the user, owner or operator of the alarm system. The activation of an alarm system under any circumstances in which the activator reasonably believes that an emergency situation exists shall not be deemed to be a false alarm.
A.
All business alarm system users or their designees shall be required to register said alarm system with the Town Clerk, on forms provided by the Town Clerk, within 30 days of written notification. An initial registration fee as set forth from time to time by resolution of the Town Board for business alarms shall be required. Failure to receive written notification in no way relieves alarm system users from the false alarm fees, prohibitions and restriction sections of this chapter.[1]
B.
Beginning January 1, 1995, all currently registered alarm systems will be required to reregister yearly with the Town Clerk's office. A re-registration fee as set forth from time to time by resolution of the Town Board for business alarms shall be required.[2]
C.
Upon initial registration, the Town Clerk shall provide each alarm user with an alarm information notice, which shall be immediately posted on the premises containing the alarm system.
A.
It is hereby found and determined that false alarms requiring the police and/or fire departments to respond constitutes a public safety hazard and nuisance.
B.
An owner or lessee of real property to which an emergency agency responds as a result of a false alarm shall pay a fee for each such response in each calendar year as follows:
C.
For purposes of this section, the term "calendar year" for 1994 shall commence on the effective date of this chapter.
D.
Notice of excessive use. The owner or lessee of real property which received an emergency response by reason of a false alarm shall be notified, in writing, by means of first-class mail of all avoidable alarms up to five police alarms and/or one fire alarm in a calendar year. The letter shall inform the owner or lessee of real property of the times and types of emergency responses provided to the address location and shall contain a copy of this chapter.
E.
The failure to pay service fees assessed pursuant to this section within 30 days of written notice from the Town Clerk's office of the imposition of the fee is a violation of this chapter.
F.
Payment of charges. False alarm fees shall be paid to the Town Clerk of the Town of Niagara, 7105 Lockport Road, Niagara Falls, New York 14305.
The Code Enforcement Officer, in cooperation with other town officials, shall establish a policy and procedure whereby an owner of real property or lessee thereof on which an alarm system has been installed and who has been notified of a false alarm may present evidence as to why any such alarm should not be classified as a false alarm. The Code Enforcement Officer, Police Chief and/or Fire Chief shall designate members of their departments, not to exceed five in total, to receive such evidence and make recommendations and findings of fact concerning such classification. The Code Enforcement Officer shall make the final determination concerning a classification, which determination shall be reviewable only pursuant to procedures under Article 78 of the Civil Practice Law and Rules. To challenge the classification of an alarm as a false alarm, the real property owner or lessee thereof, or the alarm business responsible for the maintenance of the alarm, shall, in writing, notify the Code Enforcement Officer within 20 days after receipt of notice of the false alarm. The failure to give timely notice shall be deemed a waiver of the right to review the determination.
A.
Alarm users shall be subject to a service fee of as set forth from time to time by resolution of the Town Board for each occurrence which the Police or Fire Departments responds to an alarm at a building in which an alarm is operational, but the alarm information notice required by § 97-4 is not posted. This fee shall be collected irrespective of whether the alarm to which the Police or Fire Department responded was a false alarm. This fee shall be in addition to the service fees and charges imposed pursuant to § 97-4.[1]
B.
The failure to pay service fees assessed pursuant to this section within 30 days of written notice from the Town Clerk's office of the imposition of the fee shall result in an additional charge as set forth from time to time by resolution of the Town Board for each occurrence for which a service fee has been assessed. The failure to pay service fees assessed pursuant to this section within 30 days of written notice from the Town Clerk's office of the imposition of the fee is a violation of this chapter. Service charges shall be paid to the Town Clerk of the Town of Niagara, 7105 Lockport Road, Niagara Falls, New York 14305.[2]
C.
Inspections for displaying of the alarm information notice shall be conducted by the Town of Niagara Code Enforcement Officer during periodic fire inspections. The Code Enforcement Officer shall notify, in writing by first-class mail, any property owner or lessee where an alarm information notice is not properly posted. The property owner or lessee shall properly post the required alarm information notice within 15 days of the receipt of the notice. Failure to properly post the alarm information notice within 15 days shall be an occurrence as defined in Subsection A of this section.
A.
No person shall install or maintain an external audible alarm device which does not contain an operational automatic cutoff system which turns off the external audible alarms after a period not to exceed 10 minutes after activation.
B.
Alarms which do not have an auxiliary power supply which activates in the event of a power failure or electrical outage are prohibited.
C.
An automatic dialer connected directly to an emergency agency shall automatically disconnect and/or terminate its message after the message has been transmitted a maximum of two times. Notwithstanding the foregoing, however, the total transmission time of all messages shall not exceed five minutes.
A.
No alarm system shall have an automatic dialer feature or other type of alarm alert which connects automatically to enhanced 911 or the 911 emergency telephone system.
B.
There shall be no automatic alarm systems with direct communication of any type to an emergency agency without prior written authorization from the emergency agency where the alarms terminate.
The Code Enforcement Officer or his or her designees shall enforce this chapter. For that purpose, the Code Enforcement Officer and his or her designees are authorized to issue and serve appearance tickets. The building inspector for the Town of Niagara shall be the Code Enforcement Officer for purposes of this section.
Nothing in this chapter shall be construed or interpreted to place the Town of Niagara or any of its officers or agents under any obligation or duty to an alarm user or to any other person hereunder by reason of this chapter. The town specifically disclaims any and all liability for any and all damages which may be in any way related to the failure or inability to respond to any alarm.
Any person, business, firm, corporation, partnership, association or other entity that does not pay the fees as established in this chapter shall be subject to a civil penalty in an amount not less than twice the amount of such unpaid fees, but not to exceed $1,000 for each offense. Any person, business, firm, corporation, partnership, association or other entity that violates any other provisions of this chapter shall be subject to a civil penalty in an amount not less than twice the amount of such unpaid fees, but not to exceed $1,000 for each offense. A separate offense shall be deemed committed upon each day during which a violation occurs, continues or is permitted.
