HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrd 264-2006 Alarm System Regulations.pdfClTY OF ANNA, TEXAS
ORDINANCE NO. 264-2006
AN ORDINANCE OF THE ClTY OF ANNA, TEXAS, REGULATING BURGLAR,
ROBBERY, PANIC, FIRE AND MEDICAL EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE
ALARMS AND REGULATING PERSONS ENGAGED IN RELAYING ALARM
NOTIFICATION; REQUIRING PERMITS AND FEES AUTHORIZING
OPERATION OF ALARM SYSTEMS; PROVIDING FOR SERVICE CHARGE
FEES FOR FALSE ALARMS; ALLOWING FOR RESPONSE TERMINATION
BY ClTY POLICE IN THE EVENT OF NONCOMPLIANCE WITH THIS
ORDINANCE; PROVIDING A REPEALING CLAUSE; PROVIDING A
SEVERABILITY CLAUSE; PROVIDING FOR A PENALTY OF FINE NOT TO
EXCEED THE SUM OF TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS ($200.00) FOR EACH
OFFENSE; AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of Anna, Texas, finds that it is in the best
interest of the citizens of the City to: (1) regulate burglar, robbery, fire alarms and
other alarm systems installed and maintained by citizens and businesses in the
City; (2) regulate those persons engaged in relaying alarm notifications; (3)
require permits and permit fees for such alarms; (4) require service charge fees
for false alarms; (5) allow response termination by the City's Police Department;
(6) provide for the enforcement of these regulations; and (7) provide for penalties
for the violation of this Ordinance.
NOW THEREFORE BE IT ORDAINED BY THE ClTY COUNCIL OF THE ClTY
OF ANNA, TEXAS:
Section 1. Definitions
"Alarm Site" means a single premises or location with one street address served
by an alarm system or systems that are under the control of one owner, the
owner's agent or a person in control of the premises served by the Alarm
System.
"Alarm System" means a device or system arranged to signal the presence of an
intrusion or hazard requiring urgent attention and to which police, fire, or other
emergency service would normally respond if notified of the signal, and includes,
but is not limited to systems that: (1) signal intrusions or hazards as to vehicles or
other private property as a part of a larger system that monitors the Alarm Site
provided that the vehicle or other private property is placed permanently at the
Alarm Site; and (2) are commonly referred to as "burglar alarm systems,"
"holdup alarms," "robbery alarms," "medical alarms," "fire alarms," "paniclalert
systems" and similar systems. Notwithstanding the foregoing, "Alarm System"
does not include: (1) a system that monitors a vehicle or any other item of private
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property that is not permanently located at an Alarm Site; nor (2) a system
designed to alert only the owner or inhabitants of a premises and having no
audible exterior alarm, Automatic Dialing Device, or other device that
automatically sends an alert signal to an emergency service provider or to
persons engaged in relaying an alert signal to an emergency service provider at
a location other than the Alarm Site.
"Alarm User" means the owner, agent or person in control of the premises where
an Alarm System is maintained within the corporate boundaries of the City.
"Automatic Dialing Device" means the component of an alarm system that
automatically sends over regular telephone lines or by other electronic means, by
direct connection or otherwise, a prerecorded voice message or signal of any
kind indicating the existence of the emergency situation that the alarm system is
designed to detect.
"Burglar Alarm Systemn means an Alarm System designed to signal an entry or
attempted entry into the area protected by the system.
"City" means the City of Anna, Texas.
"Commercial Alarm Siten means a premises with an Alarm System that is
intended or used for the purpose of conducting a commercial business
enterprise.
"Department" means the City of Anna Police Department or its designee.
"Direct Connect" means an Alarm System that has the capability of transmitting
system signals to and receiving them at an agency or site designated by the
Department.
"Direct Line" means a telephone line, leading directly from a central station or
modified central station to the dispatch center for the Department, which is for
use only to report emergency signals on a person-to-person basis.
"False Alarm" means the activation of an Alarm System which is not the result of
an emergency or threat of emergency for which the Alarm System was designed
to give notice and, in the case of a Burglar Alarm System, for which the
responding police officer finds no evidence of any criminal activity. This term
also includes activation of an Alarm System or Burglar Alarm System through
mechanical or electronic failure, malfunction, improper installation, or the
negligence of the ownerloperator or lessee of an Alarm System, or of their
employees or agents. The Department may not consider a false alarm to have
occurred unless a response is made by an agency of the municipality within 30
minutes of the alarm notification and the agency determines from an inspection
of the interior or exterior of the premises that the alarm was false. This term
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does not include activations triggered by: (1) an attempted illegal entry of which
there is visible evidence, illegal entry, or other demonstrable criminal activity; (2)
hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, thunderstorms, electrical storms, utility
power surges, or surges through phone lines; (3) a person acting under a
reasonable belief that an emergency exists; (4) accident, mistake or testing if
then followed by an immediate call to the Department by the alarm monitoring
company canceling the alarm, such call having been made prior to the dispatch
of any officer; or (5) alarms resulting from the servicing of an Alarm System by an
alarm business when, prior to such repair or service, the Alarm User or their
agent has notified the Department, in person or by call that the Alarm System will
be repaired or serviced at the particular date and time coinciding with that alarm.
"Key-Holder" means any person that has authority over and can respond to an
Alarm Site at police request, to disarm or re-set the alarm, or both.
"Permitted Site" means an Alarm Site for which a valid and unexpired permit has
been issued, provided that each permit holder has current information on file.
Section 2. Permit Required
A person commits an offense if the person installs, operates, or causes to be
operated, an Alarm System without first obtaining a permit from the Department.
A separate permit is required for each Alarm Site. Operation of a non-permitted
site is a citable offense, with a maximum fine of two-hundred dollars ($200). In
addition, the Department may bill the owner or operator for each police dispatch
to a non-permitted Alarm Site. The schedule of fees for such billing is set forth in
Section 5 of this Ordinance.
Section 3. Application for Permit
Each permit application must contain the name, address, telephone number
(home and business if applicable) of the person(s) responsible for operating and
maintaining the Alarm System and responding to an alarm signal. An
application for a permit for a Commercial Alarm Site must also contain the names
and phone numbers (home and business) of two people that will respond to the
Alarm Site within thirty (30) minutes of being requested by the Department.
Section 4. Permit Fee
A nonrefundable fee of forty dollars ($40) per year is required for each permit or
renewal of a permit. A permit is issued for one year and must be renewed each
year thereafter by payment of the permit fee. It is the responsibility of the permit
holder to pay the renewal fee no later than the seventh day of the month
following the renewal month ("the renewal due date"). If the permit is not renewed
on or before the renewal due date, it expires and is no longer valid. The
Department, at its discretion, may renew an expired permit upon payment of all
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fees due, plus late fees accumulating at the rate of ten dollars ($10) for every 30
days that have elapsed since the renewal due date. All permit fees collected will
be placed into the Department's budget and maintained at the discretion of the
Chief of Police, subject to budgeting decisions by the City Council.
Section 5. Permit Transferability
An alarm permit cannot be transferred to another person or to a new owner.
Upon transfer of ownership of an Alarm Site, the permit automatically expires and
the new owner must apply for a new permit.
Section 6. Permit Modifications
It is the permit holder's sole responsibility to promptly provide the Department
with any information that changes the information provided in the permit
application, including but not limited to the name and contact information of the
person(s) designated to respond to an alarm. Failure to provide such information
to the Department within five business days of actual knowledge that information
on the permit application is no longer current is a violation of this Ordinance.
Section 7. Fees
The fees for False Alarms depend on the number of False Alarms occurring at a
Permitted Site on an annual basis as follows:
A non-permitted site is allowed one free False Alarm call, at which time the
Department will endeavor to give notice of the requirements of this Ordinance to
the owner or person in charge of the non-permitted site. However, ignorance of
the requirements of this Ordinance for any reason is not a defense to prosecution
for violating this Ordinance and does not relieve a person from paying any
applicable fees or late fees.
NUMBER OF FALSE ALARMS
1-3
4-8
9 or more
Section 8. Restrictions on Audible Alarms
FEE
NO FEE
$40/per false alarm
$80/per false alarm
All Alarm Systems equipped with any exterior sound-producing device, including,
but not limited to, gongs, buzzers, sirens, bells or horns, must be equipped with a
time device that limits the operation of such sound-producing device to a
continuous ten (10) minutes; except that Commercial Alarm Sites must be
equipped with a time device that limits the operation of such sound-producing
device to a continuous ten (15) minutes.
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Section 9. Requirements for Automatic Dialing Devices
An Alarm Site that transmits automatic alarm notifications directly to the Collin
County Communications Center or other law enforcement authority must provide
at least the following information: (1) the type of alarm event (burglary, robbery,
fire, etc.); (2) the address of the Alarm Site; (3) the place on the premises, if
possible, that the alarm was activated (window, door, garage, etc.); (4) the phone
number of a contact person who will be able to respond if necessary; and (5) the
alarm permit number.
Section 10. Notification Required bv Alarm Monitor
If the monitor of an Alarm System lacks any information that corroborates that an
alarm signal received by the monitor is not a False Alarm, the monitor must make
an attempt to contact the occupant of the Alarm Site before contacting the
Department. If the monitor is initially unable to contact the occupant, the monitor
must continue attempts to contact the occupant after contacting the Department,
and, if necessary, must continue said attempts during the Department's response
to the alarm signal. The monitor must promptly notify the Department of the
results of the attempts to contact the occupant of the Alarm Site. If it is a
Commercial Alarm Site, the monitor must first attempt to notify the Department
and then attempt to notify a person responsible for the Alarm Site, then attempt
to notify the Department again to provide the status of a Key Holder response.
Section 11. Conflicting Ordinances Repealed
All parts of any ordinance in conflict with the provisions of this Ordinance are to
the extent of such conflict hereby repealed.
Section 12. Penalties
A person commits an offense if the person violates any part of this Ordinance.
An offense of this Ordinance is a Class C misdemeanor. Any person convicted
of violating this Ordinance shall be fined in an amount not to exceed $200 for
each incident of violation. Each day of the continuance of such violation shall be
considered a separate offense and shall be punished separately.
Section 13. Severance
If any part of this Ordinance is for any reason found by a court of competent
jurisdiction to be invalid, illegal, or unenforceable, all other parts nevertheless
shall remain valid, legal, and enforceable.
Section 14. Effective Date
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This Ordinance shall be effective upon the posting and/or publication of its
caption as required by law and the City Secretary is hereby directed to implement
such posting and/or publication.
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PASSED by the City Council of the City of Anna, Texas, by the following votes on
this the 23rd day of Mav ,2006.
AYE 7
NAY 0
ABSTAIN 0
ATTEST:
ry, Natha Wilkison
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APPROVED:
/ayor, Kenneth Pelharn m