Chapter 8.34
FALSE FIRE ALARMS
Sections:
8.34.030 Appeal of a civil infraction.
8.34.010 False fire alarms.
A. For the purposes of this section, a fire alarm shall be deemed and construed as being any act as follows:
The giving, signaling or transmitting of a fire alarm to any public fire station, fire company, fire officer or any employee of the jurisdiction who has normal responsibilities for public safety, or to any central station monitoring agency whose purpose is to monitor fire and/or public safety, whether by telephone, spoken word, electronic conveyance or otherwise, any information to the effect that there is a fire or emergency at or near the place indicated by such signal or transmission.
B. It shall be unlawful for any person to give, signal, or transmit or for any person to cause or permit to be given, signaled, or transmitted in any manner any false alarm.
C. It shall be unlawful for any person to tamper with or maliciously injure any fire alarm system or equipment maintained for the purpose of transmitting fire alarms to the fire department.
D. Nothing in this section shall prohibit the sounding of any such signal essential for the carrying out of any system maintenance or fire drill. Dispatch, or the responsible central station monitoring agency, shall be notified in advance when such signal will be sounded.
E. Any person, firm or corporation who is found to have signaled or transmitted a false alarm shall be guilty of a civil infraction and shall be fined as follows:
1. For the first two preventable false alarms, and all unpreventable false alarms, in a one-year period no fee will be charged.
2. For the third preventable false alarm and each additional preventable false alarm response to a premises within any one-year period, a fee of $200.00 shall be charged.
F. Definitions.
“False alarm” shall mean the activation of a fire alarm at a time when no conditions attributable to a fire or smoke condition are found to exist upon arrival of the fire department.
“Fire code official” shall mean the chief of the fire department, or their designated representative.
“Person” shall mean any person, firm, partnership, association, corporation, company or organization of any kind.
Preventable False Alarm. “Preventable alarm” shall mean a false alarm caused or initiated or allowed to be caused or initiated by the premises owner, or by a representative, assignee, or other persons that function under the direction or control of the owner, whether caused by direct intent, malicious action or by system neglect or improper system maintenance.
“Unpreventable false alarm” shall mean a false alarm caused by power failures or interferences unrelated to the operation of the premises.
G. The fire duty officer shall document the false alarm on their incident report. The incident report shall be sent to the clerk’s office and the building official. The building official shall determine any corrective actions needed to be taken by the person owning or maintaining the fire alarm, and make a report to the fire chief.
H. The determination whether or not a false alarm was preventable shall be made by the fire code official. Any fee resulting from a determination that a false alarm was preventable shall be billed by the city treasurer’s office and shall be deposited in the general fund. (Ord. 1629 NS § 1, 2018).
8.34.020 Violation – Penalty.
A. Any violation of any provision of this chapter constitutes a civil violation under Chapter 1.10 CMC for which a monetary penalty may be assessed and abatement may be required as provided therein.
B. In addition to or as an alternative to any other penalty provided in this chapter or by law, any person who violates any of the provisions of this chapter shall be guilty of a misdemeanor pursuant to CMC 1.08.010. (Ord. 1629 NS § 1, 2018).
8.34.030 Appeal of a civil infraction.
A. Appeals of any civil infraction shall follow the process set forth in Chapter 1.10 CMC.
B. Standing to bring an appeal under this chapter is limited to the following persons:
1. The applicant and the owner of property to which the permit decision is directed.
2. Another person aggrieved or adversely affected by the order, determination, or decision, or who would be aggrieved or adversely affected by a reversal or modification of the order, determination, or decision. A person who is aggrieved or adversely affected within the meaning of this section only when all of the following conditions are present:
a. The order, determination, or decision has prejudiced or is likely to prejudice that person;
b. A judgment in favor of that person would substantially eliminate or redress the prejudice to that person caused or likely to be caused by the order, determination, or decision; and
c. The appellant has exhausted his or her administrative remedies to the extent required by law. (Ord. 1629 NS § 1, 2018).