Title
Ordinance Amending Chapter 9, Article I, of the Greensboro Code of Ordinances (Civil Preparedness and Emergency)
Body
Department: Fire
Council District: All
Public Hearing: Not Applicable
Advertising Date/By: Not Applicable
Contact 1 and Phone: Gregory H. Grayson, Fire Chief, Phone, 430-6011
Contact 2 and Phone: Graham Robinson, III, Division Chief, Phone, 430-6006
PURPOSE: To amend Chapter 9, Article I, of the Greensboro Code of Ordinances with Respect to Civil Preparedness and Emergency so that it is updated in accordance with the modernized North Carolina Emergency Management Act.
BACKGROUND: Chapter 9, Article I, of the Greensboro Code of Ordinances is authorized by the North Carolina Emergency Management Act codified in North Carolina General Statutes 166A-1, et seq. In 2012 the North Carolina General Assembly amended the aforementioned Act to consolidate and reorganize the statutes that establish emergency management authorities for state and local governments. The legislation made the following four(4) changes to municipal emergency management programs: 1) It consolidates and reorganizes all state and local emergency management authorities and responsibilities in one place; 2) It clarifies and makes uniform the terminology used in all emergency management statutes; 3) It includes operational practices that have developed through the years and clarifies statutory inconsistencies; and 4) It limits the restrictions and prohibitions that local governments can impose on dangerous weapons during a local emergency. The modernized North Carolina Emergency Management Act does not change the primary legal relationships between local governments and the state or make significant substantive changes to the law. However, one major change now prohibits local governments from imposing restrictions and prohibitions on lawfully possessed firearms and ammunition during a locally declared emergency.
BUDGET IMPACT: None.
RECOMMENDATION / ACTION REQUESTED: The Greensboro Fire Department is requesting that the Greensboro City Council adopt the attached ordinance amendment.