It is unlawful to have or to maintain an alarm system on any premises in the city unless the owner or tenant of the premises has obtained an annual alarm registration from the police department. An alarm registration fee of twenty ($20) dollars shall be charged for such alarm registration annually; provided, that no fee shall be charged for an alarm registration for an alarm system which serves the primary residence of an owner or tenant who is age sixty-two or older or economically disadvantaged as herein defined and who presents proof thereof.

The application for such alarm registration shall be made on forms approved by the chief of police. All alarm users in the city of Vancouver must obtain an alarm user registration number from the Vancouver Police Alarm Center before activation of their alarm system.

Such alarm registration shall expire on the last day of the month which is one calendar year from the day it was issued. A new alarm registration and fee shall be required one year from the date of registration. The alarm registration is nontransferable and the fee therefore is nonrefundable; provided, that if sale of the premises served by the alarm closes within thirty (30) days of issuance of the alarm registration, or annual renewal of the alarm registration, the fee shall be refunded to the payee.

In the event that the owner or tenant of the premises fails to obtain an alarm registration for an alarm system, or to pay the alarm registration fee or late payment penalties as provided for by this ordinance, the chief of police or his or her designee may order the person having or maintaining the alarm to disconnect such alarm and may direct that the police department will not respond to such alarm activation at such alarm site until the alarm registration has been obtained and the required fee and/or late penalties paid; provided, that the disconnect and/or non-response directive shall not be effective until ten (10) days after written notice of the proposed directive has been sent to the owner and/or tenant of the alarm site, and provided no disconnection or non-response shall be ordered for any alarm site required by law to have an alarm system in operation.

It shall be the responsibility of the person obtaining the alarm registration to update the information provided on the annual alarm registration application/renewal form within ten (10) days of any change in such information including the installation of a major alarm system upgrade. Any alarm audible upon abutting property for a period in excess of fifteen (15) minutes is declared to be a public nuisance and may be summarily abated by any member of the police department. Any alarm installed after the effective date of the ordinance codified in this section shall have an automatic shut off feature so that the alarm will not sound for more than fifteen (15) consecutive minutes. All existing alarms shall be provided with such a feature in not less than one hundred eighty (180) days from the effective date of Ordinance M-2892.

If there is reason to believe that an alarm system is not being used or maintained in a manner that ensures proper operation and suppresses false alarms, the alarm administrator may require a conference and an on site inspection with an alarm user and the alarm servicing company responsible for the repair of the alarm system to review the circumstances of each false alarm and determine the best course of action to prevent further occurrence. All costs of inspection and corrective actions shall be the responsibility of the individual having or maintaining the alarm on said alarm site or of the operator of the alarm service. (Ord. M-3142 § 2, 1994: Ord. M-2986 § 2, 1992: Ord. M-2892 § 3, 1990; Ord. M-3589, Amended, 07/15/2002)