BOROUGH OF FANWOOD ALARM DEVICE REGISTRATION Ordinance 08-22-R Adopted 12/9/08 Date of Registration: Name of Registrant: Owner Tenant Other Location Address: Block Lot Phone # Cell# Person/Company Installing/Maintaining/Owning System: Name: Phone #: Cell#: Address: Type of System: Contact Person Responsible for Maintaining/Monitoring and Initially Responding to Alarm: Name: Phone #: Cell# Address: Person who may be contacted in the event of an alarm: Name: Phone #: Cell#: Address: Signature of Registrant: Registration Fee: $10.00 Date Fee Received: Received by: 12/09/08
BOROUGH OF FANWOOD ORDINANCE NO. 08-22-R AN ORDINANCE TO AMEND THE CODE OF THE BOROUGH OF FANWOOD TO REGULATE ALARM DEVICES BE IT ORDAINED by the Mayor and Council of the Borough of Fanwood, County of Union, State of New Jersey, that it amends the Fanwood Borough Code to regulate alarm devices on private property, as follows: Section 1. Purpose: The purpose of this Chapter is to establish standards and regulations concerning the installation, operation and maintenance of certain alarm systems within the Borough of Fanwood ( Borough ) and to reduce and/or eliminate false alarms. Section 2. Definitions A. Alarm business--any business operated by a person, partnership, corporation, etc., for profit, which engages in the activity of altering, installing, leasing, maintaining, repairing, replacing, selling, servicing, or responding to a fire or burglar alarm system, or which causes any of these activities to take place. Excluded from this definition, however, are retail establishments that sell alarm systems over the counter. B. Alarm device--any type of alarm-activating equipment which provides warning of burglary, intrusion, fire, flood or like peril causing potential for harm to life or property. C. Alarm System One or more alarm devices installed in a building or structure employed to call attention to, or provide warning of, intrusion by any person or fire, whether the same provides a visual, audio or electronic response, alarm or warning of an emergency such as burglary, intrusion, fire, flood or like peril. The term alarm system shall not include: (1) concealed battery or electrically powered concealed battery or electrically powered smoke detector or carbon monoxide detector units located within single-family residences and which give out an audible signal; (2) automobile alarm systems; (3) an alarm designed to alert only the inhabitants of a premises that does not have a sounding device, which can be heard on the exterior of the alarm site. D. Central Alarm Station--An alarm station that transmits the alarm to an alarm- processing center, which then calls to dispatch the police and/or the fire department. E. Dial Alarm--An alarm device using telephone or other lines that transmits an alarm signal of intrusion to the Fanwood Police Department or any other third party. F. False Alarm--Any alarm or signal activated or transmitted eliciting a response by police or firefighters or other public officials by inadvertent, negligent, unintentional or intentional act or omission of a person (caused or transmitted other than by an intruder), and. shall also include alarms caused by
malfunctioning of the alarm device or other related equipment (but excluding an alarm signal caused by violent conditions of nature, such as, but not limited to, lightning, tornadoes, hurricanes, or other extraordinary circumstances not reasonably subject to control by the alarm business or alarm user). G. Registration Form--Person(s) required to register their alarm devices shall complete and file with the Borough Clerk a registration application, which may be obtained from the Borough Clerk s Office. The Borough Clerk shall file a copy of each registration form with the Fanwood Police Department and the Clerk s Office and the Police Department shall keep the records confidential and not open to public inspection because of issues of safety and confidentiality. The registrant shall provide the following information: (1) The full name and address of the registrant, including a complete physical address and property description, which will permit the appropriate response to the alarm. (2) Name and address and telephone number of the person installing, maintaining and/or owning the system. (3) The type of system. (4) The name and address of the person(s) responsible for maintaining, monitoring and initially responding to an activation of an alarm device and a phone number for such entity and/or person(s). (5) The name, address and telephone number of the person who may be contacted in the event of an alarm, and at least one person who is authorized to receive notification of an alarm call and who is authorized to enter upon the premises in which the alarm system is located. No further renewal registration shall be required unless and until there has occurred any material change in the information previously submitted with respect to any alarm system; in which event it shall be the duty of the user of the alarm system, within ten (10) days of such material change, to file a supplemental or revised registration containing accurate, current information. H. Registration Fee--A ten-dollar ($10) registration fee shall be submitted with each registration form. A Registration Form and Registration Fee shall be submitted within thirty (30) days of the system installation. Failure to submit a Registration Form and/or pay the Registration Fee in a timely manner shall result in a fine not to exceed $50, provided the system is registered within thirty (30) days of imposition of the fine. After that period, each additional day shall constitute a separate violation. All persons having an alarm system installed on property as of November 31, 2008 shall submit a registration form on or before June 30, 2009 and shall not be required to pay the Registration Fee for that alarm system so long as the person submits the Registration Form by June 30, 2009. I. False Alarms--It shall be unlawful for any person to cause, allow or activate a false alarm as defined in this Chapter. In case of a false alarm, any person and any registrant who violates this Chapter shall each be subject to the provisions of Section 6 hereafter. In case of a false alarm, any person having knowledge of the false alarm immediately shall notify the Fanwood Police Department. The Fanwood Police Department shall be responsible for enforcing this Chapter.
Section 3. Connections of Dial Alarm Devices. Dial Alarm devices may be connected to the Fanwood Police Department by telephone or other lines as are permitted and designated by the Fanwood Police Department or to other law enforcement agencies having jurisdiction or to third party providers. Dial alarms shall be registered as specified in Subsection 2F of this Chapter. Section 4. General Regulations A. The provisions of this Chapter shall not apply to any alarm system installed on property owned or occupied by any municipal, county, state, or federal government agency or office, or to any alarm device having only an indoor audible or visual/flashing system, and which are not dial alarm devices or any medical alert system. B. Alarm devices having an audible alarm installed out of doors shall be designed to limit the operation of a bell or sound producing instrument to a maximum of ten (10) minutes after activation. If the duration of an outside activated audible alarm exceeds ten (10) minutes, the warnings and penalties provided by Subsection shall apply as though a false alarm has been activated. C. The Borough is under, and assumes no duty or obligation to any permittee or other persons by reasons of issuance or failure to issue any registration permit. D. The Mayor and Council may, from time to time, promulgate rules and regulations supplementing this Chapter in order to provide for record keeping and efficient management of the system. Section 5. Installation, Activation and Operation of Alarm System Subsequent to January 1, 2009. A. Each alarm system shall be installed utilizing discrete circuitry for multipurpose alarm systems to insure appropriate emergency response. B. Any alarm system, which requires for its operation electricity supplied by a public utility may be equipped with a battery rendering it operable in the event of a power outage, if so desired by the property owner. Such a battery backup system shall be required for any alarm system that will trigger itself automatically in the event of a power fluctuation, surge, or outage. C. All burglar alarm systems must be provided with a device that will automatically shut off the alarm after (10) minutes of activation. D. All burglar alarm systems not fitted with an external key switch shall be equipped with a time delay of at least 15 seconds which may include an audible signal of the same length of time, said time delay to be designated to prevent accidental activation of the system. The 15-second signal, if utilized, shall be audible only within the structure and not externally. E. No person shall install, cause to be installed, or permit to be installed, any alarm device, by whatever name known, which automatically selects a telephone line dedicated to the Borough s Police Department or Fire Department for the purpose of playing a recorded message to report any emergency. F. In the event an alarm system, other than a fire or burglary alarm system, is tied into and/or serviced by a central station or answering service, upon activation of said alarm system, the central station or answering service shall verify the validity of the alarm prior to notifying the Police Department of it. G. The resetting of any transmitted fire alarm shall be done in the presence of the Borough Fire Department. In no case shall an alarm be reset prior to the Fire Department s authorization. In case of burglary alarms, the Police Department shall not be responsible for resetting the alarm system.
H. No alarm business or person owning, using or possessing an alarm system shall cause or permit the occurrence of repeated false alarms, whether intentional, accidental or otherwise. I. An alarm business having knowledge of conditions described in subsection H above shall be responsible for notifying the Borough Police Department when one of its customers using or possessing an alarm system sells his or her property. The alarm business shall notify the Police Department as to the name of the new owner and whether or not the new owner is continuing with an alarm device or system within the property. J. Alarm systems installed prior to November 1, 2008 are not required to conform to the aforementioned subsections of Section 5 unless and until any material changes are made to the system or there is a change of ownership of the property in which the alarm system is located. Section 6. False Alarm Penalties A. Any person, firm, corporation or other entity who violates the terms of this Chapter including but not limited to failure to initially register or providing false registration information or other provisions of this Chapter, shall be subject to a fine not exceeding $1000; provided, however, that the following minimum and mandatory fines shall apply to false alarms. (1) For the first two (2) false alarms in any calendar year, a warning shall be issued. (2) For the third and/or fourth false alarms within any single calendar year, a fine of Thirty-Five ($35) Dollars for each shall be paid to the Borough. (3) For the fifth through ninth false alarms within any single calendar year, a fine of Seventy-Five ($75) Dollars for each shall be paid to the Borough. (4) For the tenth and subsequent false alarms in any single calendar year, a fine of One Hundred ($100) Dollars for each shall be paid to the Borough. (5) For any false alarm exceeding four (4) in the same calendar year, An advisory letter shall accompany the payment of the fine (dated within 30 days following the date on which a Complaint has been issued) from an alarm business stating that the system is properly operating. Failure to provide such an advisory letter shall constitute a separate offense, subject to a maximum fine of Two Hundred Fifty ($250) Dollars. (6) In the event the Borough Police Department determines that the registrant failed to take reasonable steps to avoid false alarms, the Police Department shall have the right to require the alarm to be disconnected for a period of time not to exceed one (1) year unless the number of false alarms exceeds ten in any single calendar year in which event the Police Department may direct the alarm system to be permanently disconnected. However, no such disconnection and revocation of the permit shall take place without providing the registrant an opportunity to show cause before the Borough Court why such action should not be taken. The occurrence of three (3) or more false alarms in any calendar month shall raise the presumption that the registrant is disregarding the responsibility to take reasonable remedial steps to avoid false alarms. In the event registrant s alarm is disconnected as the result of an action under this section of the Code, and in the event the registrant is allowed to reconnect the equipment in the future, registrant shall be responsible for a re-registration fee of $50.
Section 7. Severability. All ordinances or parts of ordinances inconsistent herewith are hereby repealed to the extent of such inconsistency. Section 8. If any portion of this Ordinance shall be determined to be invalid, such determination shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of said ordinance. Section 9. This Ordinance shall take effect upon final passage and publication in accordance with law.