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Home My WebLink AboutVI (A) First Reading of Ordinance No. 97-15, relating to Fire Alarm Response Fees Agenda 7-1-97 FOLEY & LARDNER Item VIA ATTORNEYS AT LAW LICHICAGO POST OFFICE BOX 2193 SAN DIEGO JACKSONVILLE ORLANDO, FLORIDA 32802-2193 SAN FRANCISCO LOS ANGELES 111 NORTH ORANGE AVENUE SUITE 1E00 TALLAHASSEE MADISON ORLANDO, FLORIDA 32801-2386 TAMPA MILWAUKEE TELEPHONE 14071423 7656 WASHINGTON D.C. SACRAMENTO FACSIMILE(407)648 1743 WEST PALM BEACH WRITER'S DIRECT LINE MEMORANDUM TO: The Honorable Mayor and City Commissioners of the City of Ocoee /� FROM: Paul E. Rosenthal, Esq. City Attorney re/�- b DATE: June 25, 1997 RE: Amendment to False Alarm Response Fee Ordinance Attached hereto is a proposed Amendment to Chapter 75 of the Ocoee City Code relating to false alarms. This Ordinance has been prepared at the direction of City staff in order to clarify certain administrative matters regarding the current ordinance. The proposed Ordinance accomplishes the following: (1) The definition of "Owner" is expanded to include the person in charge of the facility where the alarm system is located. This will make it easier to deliver the false alarm notices. (2) There is currently some confusion regarding the methodology for calculating the time frame within which 3 false alarms occur and thereby result in the imposition of a false alarm response fee. The proposed Ordinance clarifies that 3 false alarms must occur within a 6-month period before a fee is imposed. (3) The proposed Ordinance strengthens the ability of the City to collect a false alarm response fee from the fee title holder of the premises on which the alarm system is located. Notice that a false alarm fee may be imposed will now be given to the fee title holder as well as the "Owner" under the Ordinance (if different from the fee title holder) . (4) The time period within which to pay a false alarm response fee is extended to 20 days. ate 2 Amewen r GL..eALex ry it e[EWWER..-nm iry BeRLN BPJSS _ESTABLISHED DYE,. m EN. Fn mcTT Lc WEN PAT S. Sir..,APcPr SvT. ART AND TA rn (5) The role of the Code Enforcement Board in handling disputes is clarified. (6) In order to assure administration of the false alarm Ordinance on a consistent basis and to eliminate notices of violation which are inconsistent with the proposed amendments, the proposed Ordinance provides that all outstanding charges will be rescinded and that all new false alarms will be counted from the date of adoption of the Ordinance. The City staff has reviewed the proposed Ordinance and recommend approval thereof. RECOMMENDATION: It respectfully is recommended that the City Commission adopt Ordinance Number 97- and authorize execution thereof by the Mayor and City Clerk. PER:cm C nwe51mCS\OCO MEMORF.V9Fiu.625 l 62597 ION.RE I PER=don -2- ORDINANCE NO. 97- 15 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF OCOEE, FLORIDA RELATING TO FALSE ALARM RESPONSE FEES; AMENDING THE DEFINITION OF OWNER SET FORTH IN SECTION 75-2 OF CHAPTER 75 OF THE OCOEE CITY CODE; AMENDING SECTION 75-3 OF THE OCOEE CITY CODE TO CLARIFY THE METHODOLOGY USED FOR CALCULATING WHEN A FALSE ALARM RESPONSE FEE WILL BE CHARGED; PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY; PROVIDING FOR CODIFICATION; PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. BE IT ENACTED BY THE CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF OCOEE, FLORIDA, AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. The City Commission of the City of Ocoee has the authority to adopt this Ordinance pursuant to Article VIII of the Constitution of the State of Florida and Chapter 166, Florida Statutes. SECTION 2. The definition of "owner" set forth in Section 75-2 of Chapter 75 of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Ocoee, Florida is hereby amended to read as follows: OWNER [OR OWNER OF THE PREMISES1 - The {lcgal} [fee title] owner of a building, structure or facility, or the lessee, manager or agent of record of a building, structure or facility[_ or the person in charge of the building, structure or facility where the alarm system is located] . SECTION 3. Section 75-3 of Chapter 75 of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Ocoee, Florida is hereby amended as follows: 575-3. False alarm response fees charged. A. Each time the Fire Department or Police Department responds to a false alarm when no acceptable reason for the false alarm can be detected, the enforcement official shall issue a warning notice to the owner [of the premises] , which warning notice shall require that the alarm system be inspected and/or serviced within two (2) working days with written documentation submitted to the enforcement official that the alarm system is in proper working order. B. { n -- a first esp""e to the premioco for a faloc alarm or for the occon1 third __p_n__ re Departmen __ ___ _r_ -__ _ ri t *third rcoponoc to prcmioco, ) [No fee shall be charged for the first three responses by the Police Department or the Fire Department to the premises for false alarms occurring within a six (6) month period, calculated from the date of the first such response to a false alarm. After the occurrence within a six (6) month period of three such false alarms responses to the premises, ] a certified letter shall be sent to the owner of the premises advising the owner that subsequent false alarm responses to premises within the six-month period following receipt of such certified letter shall result in the following false alarm response fees: (1) For the first response to premises within six (6) months following receipt of the certified letter: a fee of thirty-five dollars ($35. ) . (2) For a second response to premises within six (6) months following receipt of the certified letter: a fee of seventy-five dollars ($75. ) . (3) For a third and all subsequent responses to premises within six (6) months following receipt of the certified letter: a fee of one hundred fifty dollars ($150. ) . (4) After the occurrence of such a third response to the premises [within a six (6) month period] , the false alarm response fee set forth above shall be charged to the owner of the premises for each additional response within the six-month period following the receipt of the certified letter. The enforcement official shall issue a notice to the owner of the premises advising that a false alarm response fee has been imposed 2 and the amount of such fee [and that failure to pay such fee will result in a lien against the land on which the alarm system is situated] . The false alarm response fee shall be due and payable to the City of Ocoee within {five (5) } [twenty [20) ] working days of the date of such notification. Failure to pay within said period shall result in a late charge of twenty dollars ($20. ) being due and payable. Payment of all such fees shall be made to the Finance Department of the City of Ocoee. [A copy of all notices given pursuant to this subparagraph B shall also be sent by certified mail to the holder of title in fee simple to the land on which the alarm system is situated, if different from the owner of the premises to whom notice has been given. The holder of title in fee simple to the land on which the alarm system is located shall be jointly and severally liable for the payment of a false alarm response fee. Notice to the title holder as set forth in the ad valorem tax records shall be conclusive evidence of compliance with this notice requirement. ] C. {If there arc no additional responses to the premises within} [After] the six-month period following the receipt by the owner of the certified letter, {then} the next response to the premises for a false alarm shall be considered a first response for purposes of this chapter [and no fee shall be charged until three such responses again occur within a six (6) month period as provided in Section 75-3B above. ] . D. Failure to pay any false alarm fee(s) or late charges when due or payable shall result in the recording of a lien against the land upon which the alarm system is situated {and on any other real or personal property of the owner} [ , which lien may be foreclosed in the same fashion as mortgage liens are foreclosed. In the event of such a foreclosure, the City shall be entitled to recover from the holder of title in fee simple to the land on which the alarm system is located all costs and expenses incurred, including but not limited to its reasonable attorney' s fees, paralegal fees and other costs and expenses, whether incurred prior to, during or subsequent to court proceedings or an appeal] . 3 E. A dispute by an owner regarding compliance with the provisions of this chapter shall result in presentation of the Code violation to the Ocoee Code Enforcement Board pursuant to Chapter 7 of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Ocoee. [In such case, the sole issue before the Code Enforcement Board shall be to determine whether or not a violation of this Chapter has occurred. ] Deletions appear as struck-through text surrounded by { } and additions appear as double underlined text surrounded by [ ] . Section 4. The amendment to Section 75-3 set forth in Section 3 above is intended to clarify the intent of Chapter 75 of the Ocoee City Code. Any certified letters sent to owners for false alarms and any fees charged for false alarms which remain unpaid as of the date of adoption of this Ordinance shall be and hereby are rescinded. The counting of false alarms for the purposes of Chapter 75 of the Ocoee City Code shall hereafter commence as of the date of adoption of this Ordinance and no false alarms prior to such date shall be taken into account in connection with the enforcement of Chapter 75 of the Ocoee City Code. SECTION 5. Severability. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase or portion of this Ordinance is for any reason held invalid or unconstitutional by any court of competent jurisdiction, such portion shall be deemed a separate, distinct and independent provision and such holding shall not affect the validity of the remaining portion hereto. SECTION 6. Codification. It is the intention of the City Commission of the City that the provisions of this Ordinance shall become and be made a part of the Code of Ordinances of the City; and that sections of this ordinance may be renumbered or 4 relettered and the word "ordinance" may be changed to "chapter", "section", "article", or such other appropriate word or phrase in order to accomplish such intentions; and regardless of whether such inclusion in the Code is accomplished, sections of this Ordinance may be renumbered or relettered and the correction of typographical errors which do not affect the intent may be authorized by the City Manager, without need of public hearing, by filing a corrected or recodified copy of same with the City Clerk. SECTION 7. Effective Date. This Ordinance shall become effective immediately upon passage and adoption. PASSED AND ADOPTED this _ day of , 1997 . APPROVED: ATTEST: CITY OP OCOEE, FLORIDA Jean Grafton, City Clerk S. Scott Vandergrift, Mayor (SEAL) ADVERTISED July 3 , 1997 AND ADVERTISED , 1997 READ FIRST TIME July 1 , 1997 READ SECOND TIME AND ADOPTED , 1997 , UNDER AGENDA ITEM NO. FOR USE AND RELIANCE ONLY BY THE CITY OF OCOEE, FLORIDA APPROVED AS TO FORM AND LEGALITY this day of , 1997 . FOLEY i LARDNER By: City Attorney own I'Wcs,IXwcouvwiiM.NEW I vum r tmm IPFIIjs 5