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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrdinance 93-16 ORDINANCE NO. 93- 16 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF OCOEE, FLORIDA, ADOPTING A NEW CHAPTER 75 OF THE CODE OF ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF OCOEE RELATING TO FALSE ALARM RESPONSE FEES; ESTABLISHING FEES FOR FALSE ALARMS; PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY; PROVIDING FOR CODIFICATION; PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. WHEREAS, the Ocoee city commission has determined that it is prudent to make the best use of personnel and resources; and WHEREAS, the Ocoee Police and Fire Departments maintain a level of service standard by responding immediately to every alarm to protect the lives and property of the citizens of the City of Ocoee; and WHEREAS, alarms place police officers and firefighters in positions in which themselves and others may be endangered; and WHEREAS, false alarms generate immediate responses the same as a real alarm; and WHERE-AS, the expense involved in false alarms is now absorbed unnecessarily by the taxpayers of the City of Ocoee rather than the property owner responsible for the false alarm; and WHEREAS, the City commission of the City of Ocoee desires to establish a false alarm response fee for properly placing the expense of such response; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ENACTED BY THE CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF OCOEE, FLORIDA, AS FOLLOWS: SECTION ONEo The City commission of the City of Ocoee, Florida 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 TWO. A new Chapter 75 of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Ocoee, Florida, is hereby adopted as follows: CHAPTER 75 False Alarm Response Fees section 75-1. Short Title. This Chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "False Alarm Response Fee Chapter". section 75-2. Definitions. For purposes of this Chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings set forth in this section: A. Owner means the legal owner of a building, structure or facility, or the lessee, manager, or agent of record of a building, structure or facility. B. False Alarm means the activation of an Alarm System through mechanical failure, malfunction, improper installation or maintenance, or through the negligent or intentional misuse of the Alarm System caused by the Owner of the premises where the Alarm System is installed. False Alarms do not include alarms caused by Test Alarms or those alarms activated by the Owner of the premises which would lead a careful and prudent person to believe that a fire, forced entry, robbery or other felony was in progress at the premises protected by the Alarm System. C. Alarm System means any mechanical, electrical, or radio controlled device which is designed to be used for the detection of any unauthorized entry into abuilding, structure or facility, or for alerting others to the commission of an unlawful act within a building, structure or facility, or which emits a sound or transmits a signal or message when activated by smoke, heat, or fire. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, Alarm Systems shall be deemed to include audible alarms at the site of the installation of the detection device, proprietor alarms and automatic telephone dialing devices or digital alarm communicator devices. D. Test Alarm means a maintenance or testing of an Alarm System in which prior approval for such maintenance and/or testing has been obtained from an Enforcement Official. E. Enforcement Official means the Police Chief, Fire Chief or their designated representatives. section 75-3. 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, 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. There shall be no fee charged for a first response to the premises for a False Alarm or for the second or third response by the Police Department or the Fire Department. After the occurrence of such a third response to premises, a certified letter shall be sent to the Owner of the premises ndvising the Owner that subsequent False Alarm responses to premises within the six (6) 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 ($35.00). 2. For a second response to premises within six (6) months following receipt of the certified letter a fee of seventy-five dollars ($75.00). 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 ($150.00) . After the occurrence of such a third response to the premises, the False Alarm response fee set forth above shall be charged to the Owner of the premises for each addi'l.:ional response within the six (6) 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 and the amount of such fee. The False Alarm response fee shall be due and payable to the City of Ocoee within five (5) working days of the date of such notification. Failure to pay within said period shall result in a late charge of twenty dollars ($20.00) being due and payable. PaYment of all such fees shall be made to the Finance Department of the city of Ocoee. C. If there are no additional responses to the premises within the six (6) month period following the receipt by the Owner of the certified letter, then the next response 3 to the premises for a False Alarm shall be considered a first response for purposes of this Chapter. 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 nnd on any other real or personal property of the Owner. 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. SECTION THREE 0 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 hereby. SECTION FOUR. Codification. It is the intention of the City commission of the city of Ocoee that the provisions of this Ordinance shall become and be made a part of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Ocoeej and that sections of this Ordinance may be renumbered or relettered and the word "ordinance" may be changed to "chapter", "article", "section" or other such 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 illay be renumbered or relettered and the correction or typographical errors which do not effect the intent may be authorized by the City Manager, without need for public hearing, by filing a corrected or recodified copy of same with the city Clerk. 4 SECTION FIVE. Effective Date. This ordinance shall become effective immediately upon passage and adoption.}, _ PASSED AND ADOPTED this 17l!.- day of~, 1993. Clerk FOR USE AND RELIANCE ONLY BY THE CITY OF OCOEE, FLORIDA APPRO~;Q~AS TO FO~AND ~EGALITY this ~ day of ~j\J)L , 1993. FOLEY , LARDNER By: paf~Ss~M City Attorney C:IWPSl IDOCSIOCOEIORDIN.SWZ 17f29193118S008ISWZ:jcd APPROVED: CITY OF OCOEE, FLORIDA \ S~ VtJVu4 S. Scott Vandergrift, ADVERTISED August 5 & 7 , 1993 READ FIRST TIME August 3 , 1993 READ SECOND TIME AND ADOPTED u1iJV6t/r. F /7 , 1993, DER AGENDA ITEM NO. V A 5