City Council
MEETING DATE: 5/27/2015
TITLE:
Title
Proposed Ordinance Regarding Massage Therapy Establishments
End
FROM:
Pat Milos, Community Development Director
Nicholas Hermsen, Deputy City Attorney
RECOMMENDATION:
Recommendation
Staff recommends that the City Council review this staff report and attached ordinance and direct that the ordinance be brought back for consideration at the next regular City Council meeting.
Body
BACKGROUND:
Since 2014, City staff has moved to revoke the business license of three massage establishments on the grounds that the establishments had violated City ordinances. In two of the three cases, a police sting uncovered prostitution at the establishment.
Last year, the City Attorney's office prepared an ordinance which would have prohibited a new massage establishment from opening in the same location where a former establishment had been closed due to criminal activity for a period of one year after closure. The purpose of this proposal was to avoid the persons behind the former massage establishment from continuing to operate in an illegal manner under a different name, which is a problem that has occurred in other jurisdictions and which may have also occurred in Cathedral City previously. The City Council declined to adopt the proposed ordinance at that time, primarily due to concerns that the ordinance would serve to punish an innocent landlord.
This proposed ordinance would instead require a new massage establishment operator and on-site manager to undergo a background check prior to operating in such a location for a period of one year, at the establishment's expense.
The State updated its massage statutes last year. As such, it is appropriate to update the City's ordinance to ensure it fully complies with State law. Additional updates and modifications are also proposed via this ordinance. These updates have been prepared in close cooperation with Code Compliance personnel who routinely inspect such facilities, and include the following:
· Licensed acupuncturists are exempt from the City's massage ordinance, but only if it is the licensee him or herself treating a specified area. Licensed acupuncturists are not permitted to hire other persons to perform massages without a massage establishment permit or State-recognized certification.
· Applicants for massage establishment permits for applicants who are not exempt must submit a list of current names of all proposed employees as part of the application process, and must provide proof of insurance of a minimum of $1 million for personal injury or death.
· Code Compliance personnel are specifically authorized to inspect massage establishments. Code Compliance personnel have traditionally been involved in such inspections, but this provision will clear up any ambiguity regarding their authority to participate.
· It is deemed a misdemeanor to refuse to permit a lawful inspection under the ordinance.
· Lighting standards are clarified.
· Exterior signage may not be illuminated by strobe or flashing lights and the City's sign ordinance must be complied with in all respects.
· Massage establishment reception areas must be constructed and arranged in a manner that when customers enter the premises, the receptionist or another employee is immediately visible.
· Exterior doors, except back or rear entrance doors used only for employee ingress and egress shall remain unlocked during business hours. This provision shall not apply to establishments owned by a single individual with no more than one additional employee, in compliance with State law.
· Interior doors may not have locking mechanisms.
· Employees shall be required to wear clean, nontransparent outer garments covering specified anatomical areas.
· Customers shall be provided coverings at least thirty by sixty inches, capable of covering specified anatomical areas. Common use or reuse without washing of such coverings is prohibited.
· All massage rooms must have a massage table and all massages shall be performed on the table, which shall be of a specified size. Beds, floor mattresses and waterbeds are prohibited on the premises.
· A manager must be present at all times, and a list of such managers must be provided to the City. Photographs of on-duty managers and massage therapists must be posted conspicuously in the lobby. The operator and on-site manager is vicariously liable and responsible for the conduct of all employees or independent contractors working at the establishment.
· The operator or on-site manager is required to maintain records of all customers who receive massages, and a short medical history form shall be completed to determine if the patron has any communicable diseases, areas of pain, high blood pressure or any other physical condition which may be adversely affected by massage. The massage therapist must also complete a form indicating the subjective client reported status, objective practitioner reported findings, an assessment of the client's response to the treatment, and a plan for future care with each patient as recommended by professional massage organizations such as Associated Bodywork and Massage Professionals. Such records must be maintained for 24 months and are subject to inspection for compliance only. Unauthorized disclosure of such records by City personnel constitutes a misdemeanor.
· Only the owner, operator, operator's employees, massage therapists, and customers are permitted beyond the front lobby during hours of operation.
· If any employee is found after administrative hearing or State court proceeding, to have committed any act that would have been grounds for denial of a business license, the following notice shall be conspicuously posted at the establishment entrance and in each massage room: "NOTICE TO ALL PATRONS: THIS MASSAGE ESTABLISHMENT AND THE MASSAGE ROOMS DO NOT PROVIDE COMPLETE PRIVACY AND ARE SUBJECT TO INSPECTION BY THE CITY OF CATHEDRAL CITY WITHOUT PRIOR NOTICE."
· Communication devices may not be installed in a manner that would hinder inspections. Establishment staff may not have cellular telephones in a massage room during massages; this prohibition does not apply to customers.
· A massage establishment may not operate as a school of massage.
· Persons may not live or sleep at a massage establishment.
· Food may not be prepared for sale at the establishment unless a food vending permit from the City is obtained and a full service kitchen is installed in an employee's only area for the sole use of employees.
FISCAL IMPACT:
None.
ATTACHMENTS:
Proposed Ordinance