G-03-04-24-13D1 - 4/24/2003ORDINANCE NO. ( 03- OI. "011 13 j
AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 5, CODE OF ORDINANCES
(1995 EDITION) OF THE CITY OF ROUND ROCK, TEXAS BY
ADDING A NEW SECTION 5.104, "EMERGENCY ACCESS
SYSTEMS," REQUIRING THE INSTALLATION OF OPTICAL
DETECTION DEVICES ON ALL LIMITED ACCESS GATES FOR
RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENTS; PROVIDING FOR A PENALTY
CLAUSE; PROVIDING FOR A SAVINGS CLAUSE AND REPEALING
CONFLICTING ORDINANCES OR RESOLUTIONS.
WHEREAS, changed development conditions have resulted in an
increase in requests to the City of Round Rock for property
developments utilizing private streets and limited access streets
controlled by security gates; and
WHEREAS, valuable time is lost during potential life and
death situations by city emergency personnel having to stop to
unlock or activate electrical switches on limited access gates; and
WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of Round Rock, Texas
has found and determined that the public health, safety, and
general welfare will be best served by applying the following
regulations to private street development and limited access
residential developments; Now Therefore
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ROUND ROCK,
TEXAS:
C.\wdox\CRDINANC\C30410B .WPD/sc:1
I.
That Chapter 5 of the Code of Ordinances (1995 Edition), City
of Round Rock, Texas is hereby amended by adding a new subsection
5.104 to read as follows:
5.104 EMERGENCY ACCESS SYSTEMS
Whenever any provision regarding the regulation of emergency access systems or gates contained
in the most recent edition of the International Fire Code adopted by the City are in conflict with
the provisions of this subsection, the provisions of this subsection shall govern.
(1) Definitions
T'he following words, terms and phrases, when used in this subsection, shall have the
meanings ascribed to them, except where the context clearly indicates a different meaning:
"Fire Marshal" shall mean the Fire Marshal of the City or his or her designee.
"Limited Access Drive" shall mean any vehicle access way from a public street to private
property which has a device which limits or controls vehicle access onto the property.
"Limited Access Gates" shall mean a device located on private property which controls
or limits access to more than one (1) residential dwelling.
"Gate opening system" shall mean the 3M Opticom Priority Control System or other
substantially similar system approved by the Fire Marshal and compatible with the
equipment currently installed in the City's emergency vehicles.
"Owner" shall mean any person or persons, firm corporation, partnership, association or
any other similar entity owing, keeping, being in control of, or managing a residential
development or property.
"Primary Emergency Access" shall mean the drive or access point designed as the primary
point or one of several primary points of ingress and egress for emergency vehicles.
"Secondary Emergency Access" shall mean a drive or access point designed as a
secondary or back-up means of ingress and egress for emergency vehicles.
2
(2) General Requirements
(a) All limited access drives from public streets shall be designed to accommodate
emergency service vehicles, including fire, police, and medical services vehicles.
All limited access drives from public streets shall be designated as either a primary
or secondary emergency access way, as determined by the Fire Marshal.
(b) All primary emergency access points shall be equipped to operate with a gate
opening system in addition to any emergency key box. The gate opening system
shall incorporate a fail-safe manual backup or automatic release in the event of a
failure of the electrical or mechanical system. The gate opening system shall be
maintained by the property owner in good working condition at all times. The
Fire Marshal shall have the right to inspect the gate opening system at any time.
(c) All secondary emergency access points shall be equipped with a manual disconnect
to allow manual opening of the gate by emergency service personnel. Such
manual opening system may be an emergency key box or other device as approved
by the Fire Marshal.
(d) After December 31, 2003, any primary emergency access gate not fitted with a
fully operational gate opening system must be left in the fully open position
twenty-four (24) hours per day, seven days per week.
(3) Offenses
(a) It shall be unlawful to damage, destroy, or tamper with an installed gate opening
system or otherwise render an installed gate opening system inoperable.
(b) After 12:00 midnight on December 31, 2003, it shall be unlawful to close or allow
to be or remain closed, a limited access gate which is not fitted with a fully
operational gate opening system and a manual backup gate opening system.
(c) It shall be presumed that the owner of the property on which a violation of (a) or
(b) has occurred is the party responsible for the offense.
(d) An offense under (a) and (b) is a violation of an ordinance relating to fire safety
and public health and is subject to the penalty under Section 1.601of this Code.
II.
A. All ordinances, parts of ordinances, or resolutions in
conflict herewith are expressly repealed.
B. The invalidity of any section or provision of this
ordinance shall not invalidate other sections or provisions thereof.
3
C. The City Council hereby finds and declares that written
notice of the date, hour, place and subject of the meeting at which
this Ordinance was adopted was posted and that such meeting was
open to the public as required by law at all times during which
this Ordinance and the subject matter hereof were discussed,
considered and formally acted upon, all as required by the Open
Meetings Act, Chapter 551, Texas Government Code, as amended.
Alternative 1.
By motion duly made, seconded and passed with an affirmative
vote of all the Council members present, the requirement for
reading this Ordinance on two separate days was dispensed with.
READ, PASSED, and ADOPTED on first reading this !D " day of
2003.
Alternative 2.
a/�� 1
READ and APPROVED on first reading this Gday of
LIPAAL1) , 2003.
READ, APPROVED and ADOPTEI) on second reading this the
day of
ATTEST:
, 2003.
Ny
1, Mayor
Ci y of Round Rock, Texas
CHRISTINE R. MARTINEZ, City Secre
4
DATE: April 18, 2003
SUBJECT: City Council Meeting — April 24, 2003
ITEM: *13D.1. Consider an ordinance amending Chapter 5 of the Round Rock
Code of Ordinances (1995 Edition), adding subsection 5.104,
regulating emergency access systems. (Second Reading)
Resource: Lynn Bizzell, Fire Chief
History: The 2000 International Fire Code has a section regarding Security gates, which is
subsection 503.6. The Code specifies that security gates must be installed and
maintained in an approved means and have an emergency operation in place.
Various Fire Departments have examined the emergency response time to gated
communities in the State of Texas as well as other states. They have determined
that too much valuable time was wasted stopping to unlock or override security
gates in all multi -family occupancies (apartments) that don't have a private 3M
Opticom priority control system. The loss of time can be a life and death
situation. At this time all but two of these gated multi -family occupancies have
the Emergency Access System with the 3M Opticom priority control system in
place. This system has been in service since 1998, and has worked well. Two
apartment complexes are not retrofitted with the necessary equipment that allows
the Fire Department to gain access to their compound using the 3M Opticom
priority control system.
Funding:
Cost:
N/A
Outside Resources: N/A
Impact: The cost for the necessary equipment is $1,100 to $1,800 per gate. The
apartments affected are Steeplechase, Limestone Ranch and Southgate.
Benefit: Fire Department's time will be reduced in gaining access to these compounds
during an emergency.
Public Comment: N/A
Sponsor: N/A