HomeMy WebLinkAbout1678 - ORDINANCES - 11/16/2005 ORDINANCE NO. 1678
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF PALM SPRINGS,
CALIFORNIA, AMENDING SECTION 5.02.005,
SUBSECTIONS (3), (5), (6), AND (7) OF SECTION 5.02.010,
SECTION 5.02.020, SECTION 5.02.045, SUBSECTIONS (a)
and (b) OF SECTION 5.02.075, AND SUBSECTION (a)(2) OF
SECTION 5.02.080 OF THE PALM SPRINGS MUNICIPAL
CODE RELATING TO FALSE ALARM RESPONSE CIVIL
PENALTIES.
CitV Attorney's Summary
The current provisions of the City's Municipal Code allow the
City to assess a fee for false burglary and robbery alarms after
two such incidents occur in any 365 day period. This ordinance
changes the fee to a civil penalty and would allow the City to
assess a civil penalty for false fire, emergency medical,
burglary, and robbery alarms on the second or any subsequent
alarms occurring in any 365 day period.
THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PALM SPRINGS, CALIFORNIA, DOES HEREBY
ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 5.02.005 of the Palm Springs Municipal Code is hereby
amended to read as follows:
The purpose of this Chapter is to establish standards and controls to reduce the
incidents of false fire, emergency medical, burglary, and robbery alarm calls
responded to by the police and fire departments. The revenue raised by the false
alarm civil penalties imposed under this Chapter will offset the costs associated with
responses to false fire, emergency medical, burglary, and robbery alarms and serve
as a deterrent for persons who maintain defective or inferior alarms that result in
public safety officers responding to false alarms.
SECTION 2. Subsections (3), (5), (6), and (7) of Section 5.02.010 of the Palm
Springs Municipal Code are hereby amended to read as follows:
(3) "Alarm system" means any electronic device designed for the detection of
fire, emergency medical crisis, burglary, or robbery, or an unauthorized entry
on premises, or for alerting others of the commission of an unlawful act, or
both, and when activated, emits a sound or transmits a signal to indicate that
an emergency exists, and to which police and/or fire departments are
expected to respond.
(5) "Audible alarm" means a device designed to emit an audible sound to alert
others of a fire, emergency medical crisis, burglary, or robbery, an
Ordinance No. 1678
Page 2
unauthorized entry onto property, an unauthorized entry into a structure, or ,
the commission of illegal activity.
(6) "City, "Police," and Police Chief' mean the City of Palm Springs, and in
relation to robbery and burglar alarms the terms mean the City's Police
Department and the Police Chief of the City or the Police Chief's designee,
and in relation to fire or emergency medical alarms the terms mean the City's
Fire Department and the Fire Chief of the City or the Fire Chief's designee.
(7) "False alarm" means an alarm signal which causes response by the fire
and/or police departments where any emergency situation does not exist.
"Response" means arrival at the location of the alarm. "False alarm" does
not include an alarm signal activated by earthquake, extraordinary weather
conditions, or other act of God.
SECTION 3. Section 5.02.020 of the Palm Springs Municipal Code is hereby amended to
read as follows:
The provisions of this Chapter shall not be applicable to audible alarms affixed to
automobiles, unless the vehicle alarm is connected to a central monitoring system.
SECTION 4. Section 5.02.045 of the Palm Springs Municipal Code is hereby amended to
read as follows: '
A fire, emergency medical, burglary or robbery panic alarm button shall only be
used when there is an immediate threat to life or property. It shall be unlawful to
use such alarm systems to merely summon the police, or in lieu of dialing 911.
SECTION 5. Subsections (a), (b), (c), and (d) of Section 5.02.075 of the Palm Springs
Municipal Code are hereby amended to read as follows:
(a) In addition to the fees stated herein, an alarm user may become liable to the
city for a civil penalty for police and/or fire departments responding to
repeated false fire, emergency medical, and/or burglary alarms emitted by
the user's alarm system. A false alarm response civil penalty, in amounts as
the Council may establish by resolution, shall be paid to the City by the alarm
user for every false fire, emergency medical, and burglary alarm occurring on
the second and any subsequent false alarms received from any one source
or from any one alarm system within any consecutive three hundred sixty-five
(365) day period. No false alarm civil penalty shall be charged for false fire,
emergency medical, and/or burglary alarms occurring within thirty (30) days
following initial installation of any new alarm system provided said system
otherwise complies with the requirements of this Chapter. A higher civil
penalty may be established for each additional false fire, emergency medical, ,
robbery, and/or burglary alarm received during any consecutive three
hundred sixty-five (365) day period. Multiple false fire, emergency medical,
Ordinance No. 1678
Page 3
and/or burglary alarm calls received in any one 24 hour period shall be
considered a single event for the purpose of assessing a civil penalty.
(b) A false robbery alarm response civil penalty, in amounts as the Council may
establish by resolution, shall be paid by the alarm user to the City for every
false robbery alarm occurring on the second or any subsequent false robbery
alarm received from any one source or from any one alarm system within any
consecutive three hundred sixty-five (365) day period. A higher civil penalty
may be established for each additional false robbery alarm received during
any consecutive three hundred sixty-five (365) day period as determined by
the Police Chief.
(c) Any fire, emergency medical, and/or burglar alarm which causes more than
eight false alarms, or robbery alarm which causes more than four false
alarms, may be declared a nuisance, and will be subject to revocation of
permit as specified in Section 5.02.080 of this chapter. False alarms
responded to beyond eight for fire, emergency medical, or burglary and four
for robbery will continue to be billed at the rate specified on the city of Palm
Springs alarm application permit, and the police department will no longer be
required to respond to burglar alarms at said address and the fire department
will no longer be required to respond to fire or emergency medical alarms at
said address once the police and/or fire department has sent a letter, return
receipt requested, to the owner or occupant of the building advising of the
cessation of such service and the police and or fire department has received
the return receipt.
(d) A response to a non-permitted fire, emergency medical, burglar, or robbery
alarm, whether false or valid, shall result in a non-permitted alarm civil
penalty. If an alarm user's permit is applied for within thirty days of the
response to a non-permitted fire, emergency medical, burglar, or robbery
alarm, the non-permitted alarm civil penalty shall be waived. However, if an
alarm user's permit is not applied for within thirty days of the response, each
additional response to a non-permitted location, whether false or valid, will
result in a higher civil penalty, as set forth on the city of Palm Springs alarm
application permit. Should a non-permitted false fire, emergency medical,
burglar alarm frequency reach more than eight or a non-permitted false
robbery alarm reach more than four in any three hundred sixty-five (365) day
period, the person responsible for such alarm location shall be notified by
certified mail that the police and or fire department will no longer respond to
alarms at that location.
SECTION 6. Subsection (a)(2) of Section 5.02.080 of the Palm Springs
Municipal Code is hereby amended to read as follows:
(2) The alarm system activates four (4) or more false alarms within any
consecutive three hundred sixty-five (365) day period.
Ordinance No. 1678
Page 4
SECTION 7. If any section, subsection, subdivision, sentence, clause, phrase, or portion ,
of this Ordinance is, for any reason, held to be invalid or unconstitutional by the decision of
any court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the
remaining portions of this Ordinance. The City Council hereby declares that it would have
adopted this Ordinance and each section, subsection, subdivision, sentence, clause,
phrase, or portion thereof, irrespective of the fact that any one or more section, subsection,
subdivision, sentence, clause, phrase, or portion thereof be declared invalid or
unconstitutional.
SECTION 8. The City Clerk is authorized to add the civil penalties identified in Exhibit A to
this ordinance to the City's Revised Master Bail Schedule.
SECTION 9. The Mayor shall sign and the City Clerk shall certify to the passage and
adoption of this Ordinance and shall cause the same, or the summary thereof, to be
published and posted pursuant to the provisions of law and this Ordinance shall take effect
thirty (30) days after passage.
ADOPTED this 16t' day of November, 2005.
MAYOR
ATTEST:
,,City Clerk
;'' CERTIFICATION
STATE OF CALIFORNIA )
COUNTY OF RIVERSIDE ) ss.
CITY OF PALM SPRINGS )
I, JAMES THOMPSON, City Clerk of the City of Palm Springs, California, do hereby certify
that Ordinance No. 1678 is a full, true, and correct copy, and was introduced at a regular
meeting of the Palm Springs City Council on November 2, 2005, and adopted at a regular
meeting of the City Council held on November 16, 2005, by the following vote:
AYES: Councilmembers Foat, Mills, Pougnet, Mayor Pro Tern McCulloch and Mayor
Oden
NOES: None
ABSENT: None
ABSTAIN: None
"
/,times Thompson, City Clerk
City of Palm Springs, California
Ordinance No. 1678
Page 5
Ordinance No. '1678
Exhibit A
Civil Penalties Imposed Relating to Public Safety Response to False Alarms.
1" False Alarm in 2" False Alarm in 3` False Alarm in 4 False Alarm in 5 or more False Alarm
365 day period 365 Day period 365 Day period 365 Day period in 365 Day period
Permitted Alarm No charge $100.00 $150.00 $200.00 $200.00
Non Permitted Alarm $100 00 $150.00 $200.00 $200.00 $200.00
Fire Alarms
(Full Response) Free $240.00 $240.00 $240.00 $240.00
Emergency Medical
Alarms(Single Unit) Free Free Free Free Free