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HomeMy WebLinkAboutORD 161 1993 0317ORDINANCE NO. 161 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF MOORPARK REGULATING THE USE OF ALARM SYSTEMS WITHIN THE CITY. WHEREAS, many businesses and residences throughout the City have purchased and installed private alarm systems to secure their premises; and WHEREAS, when a quality alarm system is properly installed, maintained and used, it helps protect the owners and occupants of the premises from injury or loss and contributes to overall crime prevention in the community; and WHEREAS, when alarm systems are of inferior quality or are not maintained or used properly, they are a threat to community safety and the safety of its police officers and they create a risk of accidents; and WHEREAS, problem alarm systems also represent a significant cost factor in terms of personnel time, vehicle fuel wasted and general wear and tear on public equipment; and WHEREAS, the City Council finds that there is a need to reduce the incidence of false alarm calls within the community and to balance the legitimate right of citizens to utilize alarm systems against the public's right to regulate the use of poorly designed, installed, or maintained alarm systems; NOW, THEREFORE THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF MOORPARK DOES HEREBY ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Chapter 8.28, entitled "Alarm Systems ", of the Moorpark Municipal Code is hereby repealed. SECTION 2. Chapter 8.28, entitled "Alarm Systems ", of the Moorpark Municipal Code is hereby added to read as follows: 118.28.010. Definitions For the purposes of this chapter, unless otherwise apparent from the context, certain words and phrases used in this chapter are defined as follows: (a) "Alarm agent" shall mean a person employed by an alarm business, either directly or indirectly, whose duties include all or any of the following: selling, leasing, altering, installing, maintaining, moving, repairing, replacing, servicing, responding to, or monitoring an alarm system, or a person who manages or supervises a person employed by an alarm business to perform any of the duties described herein. 78.2 (b) "Alarm subscriber" shall mean the person who occupies real property on which an alarm system has been installed. (c) "Alarm system" shall mean any mechanical or electrical device or assembly of equipment and devices designed or used for the detection of an unauthorized entry into a residence, building or facility, or to signal the presence of a hazard requiring urgent attention and which, when activated, emits a sound, or transmits a signal or message, to an alarm business, to which the police are expected to respond. Alarm systems include, but are not limited to, direct dial alarms, silent alarms, audible alarms and proprietor alarms, but shall not include alarms affixed to automobiles. (d) "Audible alarm" refers to a characteristic of an alarm system that generates an audible sound on or about the premises when it is activated, but does not refer to alarms affixed to automobiles. (e) "Direct dial alarm" or "silent alarm" shall mean a device which is connected to a telephone line and, upon activation of an alarm system, automatically transmits a message or signal indicating the need for emergency response. (f) "False Alarm" shall mean an alarm activated by causes other than the commission or attempted commission of an unlawful act or a hazard requiring urgent attention which the alarm system is designated to detect necessitating response by the police for which an emergency situation does not exist. A determination as to whether an alarm was a false alarm or actual alarm shall be made by the Chief of Police. "False alarm" shall not include those alarms activated by extraordinary meteorological, atmospheric, or other conditions or means as determined by the Chief of Police. (g) "Person" shall mean a natural person, firm, partnership, association or corporation but shall not include the City, County or other government agency. (h) "Proprietor alarm" shall mean an alarm which is not serviced by an alarm agent. This includes those alarms which are privately owned and operated. 8.28.020. Alarm Reauirements (a) Subscriber Responsibility. It shall be the duty of the alarm subscriber to properly use the alarm system and to maintain it mechanically and technically to insure safe and responsible operation and minimize the number of false alarms. If the Chief of Police determines that the system lacks in quality, maintenance or servicing or is improperly operated by the alarm subscriber, the Chief may require modifications be made to the ,78.2 -2- system to comply with this chapter. The Chief of Police, from time to time, may establish minimum standards for the operation, maintenance, and servicing of alarm systems. (b) Audible Alarm Systems. No person shall install or use an audible alarm which does not automatically terminate its operation within fifteen (15) minutes and which does not reset automatically within thirty (30) minutes of being activated. There shall be no automatic reset on the bell or other audible device. (c) Direct Dial Alarms. No person shall install or use any device which, when activated, automatically dials a public telephone line of the City or of the Police or Fire Department. Any automatic telephone dialing system shall dial to a private answering service, such as private alarm dispatch center run by an alarm agent. (d) Simulated Alarms. No person shall install or use any alarm system that emits a sound similar to that of an emergency vehicle, siren or civil defense warning system or activates for any purpose other than detecting an unauthorized entry into a building or facility protected by such alarm system or to signal the presence of a hazard requiring urgent attention. 8.28.040. Alarm Agents: Permits and Possessions. Every alarm agent shall carry on his or her person, at all times while engaged in the business of being an alarm agent, a valid alarm agent permit issued by the State of California and a business registration permit issued by the City of Moorpark and shall display these permits to any police officer upon request. 8.28.050. Enforcement: Violations and penalties. (a) Violation. Any violation of any provision of this article shall be punishable as a misdemeanor pursuant to Section 1.12.010 of this Code. (b) Fees. A fee of fifty dollars ($50.00) shall be paid to the City by each alarm subscriber for a third response made to the location of a false alarm by the Police Department during any consecutive twelve (12) month period. A fee of one hundred dollars ($100.00) shall be similarly paid to the City upon the fourth response made to the location during the same consecutive twelve month period, and a fee of one hundred fifty dollars ($150.00) shall be similarly paid to the City on the fifty response to a false alarm. All police resources utilized at any subsequent response made to the location during the same consecutive twelve month period shall be billed at the approved Police Services rate as established by ordinance. The Finance Director shall cause to be issued a monthly bill for the unpaid fees accrued during -3- any monthly billing period and any prior periods. Such bill shall be due and payable within thirty (30) days after the billing date. (c) Late Penalty. A penalty of ten percent (10 %) shall be added to any fee imposed pursuant to this chapter in the event the fee is not paid in the time and manner set forth in section (b) above. (d) Fees and Penalties Are Civil Debt. The amount of any fee and late penalty assessed pursuant to this chapter shall be deemed a debt to the City and an action may be commenced in the name of the City in any court of competent jurisdiction in the amount of the delinquent debt. Payment of any fee shall not prohibit criminal prosecution for the violation of any other provisions of this chapter. 8.28.070. Nonliability. Nothing in this chapter shall create or be constructed to create a duty upon the City or its Police Department to respond to any alarm, whether or not the alarm was false. An alarm, like any other request for service, may be responded to within the resources of the Police Department at the time of the alarm." SECTION 3. Severability If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, part or portion of this Ordinance is for any reasons held to be invalid or unconstitutional by any court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not effect the validity of the remaining portions of this Ordinance. The City Council declares that it would have adopted this Ordinance and each section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, part or portion thereof, irrespective of the fact that any one or more sections, subsections, sentences, clauses, phrases, parts or portions be declared invalid or unconstitutional. SECTION 4. Effective Date This ordinance shall take effect April 1, 1993. SECTION 5. Certification of Adoption and Notice The City Clerk shall certify to the adoption of this ordinance; shall enter the same in the book of original ordinances of said city; shall make a minute of the passage and adoption thereof in the records of the proceedings of the City Council at which the same is passed and adopted; and shall, within fifteen (15) days after the passage and adoption thereof, cause the same to be published once in the Moorpark News Mirror, a weekly paper of general circulation, as defined in Section 6009 ._j78.2 -4- of the Government Code, for the City of Moorpark, and which is hereby designated for that purpose. PASSED AND ADOPTED this 17th ATTEST: day of MARCH 1992. Mayor of he City of 166rpark, California - -j78.2 -5- MOORPARK 799 Moorpark Avenue Moorpark, California 93021 (805) 529 -6864 STATE OF CALIFORNIA ) COUNTY OF VENTURA CITY OF MOORPARK ) I, Lillian E. Hare, City Clerk of the City of Moorpark, California, do hereby certify under penalty of perjury that the foregoing Ordinance No. 161 was adopted by the City Council of the City of Moorpark at a meeting held on the 17th day of MARCH , 1993, and that the same was adopted by the following vote: AYES: COUNCILMEMBERS HUNTER, MONTGOMERY, PEREZ, WOZNIAK AND MAYOR LAWRASON NOES: NONE ABSENT: NONE ABSTAIN: NONE WITNESS my hand and the official seal of said City this 18th day of MARCH 1993. oe �r a—t Lillian E. Hare City Clerk PAUL W. LAWRASON JR. SCOTT MONTGOMERY PATRICK HUNTER BERNARDO M. PEREZ JOHN E. WOZNIAK Mayor Mayor Pro Tem Counalmember Counalmember Counalmember Printed on Reeyded Paper