SR-11-H (2)
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MAY 1 0 1983
CA:RMM:PD:BK:NM:r
City Council Meeting 5-17-83
Santa Monica, California
STAFF REPORT
TO:
Mayor and City Counc~l
FROM:
City Staff
SUBJECT:
Recommendation to D~rect C~ty Attorney to Amend
Massage Licensing Ordinance
INTRODUCTION
At its meeting on January 18,
1983, the City Counc~l
d~rected the C~ty Attorney and the Police Department to report on
enforcement of the massage licenslng ord~nance.
ThlS Staff
Report is 1n response to this direct1on.
BACKGROUND
At the present time, the Clty of Santa Monica has 11
licensed massage establishments.
These establ1shments employ
llcensed masseuses varying in number from one to 11. These
establishments have presented a cont1nuing enforcement problem
for the City of Santa Monlca.
In additlon, licensed masseurs and masseuses operate out of
a var~ety of other establishments, totall1ng eight in number,
such as health clubs, beauty shops, and wholistlc health studios.
In connect1on w1th these establlshments, massage 16 not the
pr1ncipal act1vity and 1S inc1dentlal to some other activity.
These estab11shments have not presented an enforcement problem
for the City of Santa Manlca.
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currently, the Clty of Santa Monica regulates massage by
virtue of two distinct laws.
Licenslng. Munlcipal Code Sectlons 62000-62002H require
that any operator of a massage establlshment and any masseur or
masseuse must obtaln a pollce permlt from the City. The
ordinance does not establish any tralning quallfications for
obtainlng a license. The prinlclpal requirement 15 that a person
pass a test admlnistered by the County of Los Angeles. Many
indlvlduals who pass the test do not have elementary knowledge of
the principles of anatomy, phYSlology, hygiene, and the practice
and theory of massage. The ordinance exempts from the 11censing
reqUlrement certain llcensed health professionals.
Adult Use Zoning Ordinance. The Adult Use Zoning Ordinance
set forth in Municlpal Code Sectlon 9700-9704 conta~ns standards
for various adult enterta~nment uses, including massage
establ~shments. No new massage establishment can be located ln
the City unless located in a C-3 or C-4 District and is more than
500 feet from any church, school, park, library, playground. or
residential district. EXIsting massage estab11shments that do
not meet these standards, and none of them do, may not ~ntensify
their use by add~ng addit~onal masseurs or masseuses.
ANALYSIS
At the present time. the City's licens1ng and land use
regulatory scheme is not achiev1ng its intended purpose of
protect1ng the publ~c. It is relat1vely easy to obtain a masseur
or masseuse perm1t. At the same time, the locat1ons at wh~ch on~
can perform thlS professlon are extremely limited. As
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consequence, someone can obtain a permit to perform massage at
one of the establishments known to engage in illicit sexual
activity but cannot read~ly obta~n a permit to open a legltlmate
massage establishment.
In order to address this sltuation, lt is recommended that
an ordlnance be drafted that accomplishes two principal
obJectives:
1. The first obJective of the new ordinance would be to
establish professlonal requirements for the issuance of licenses
and the operation of massage establishments. This obJective
would be achleved by lmposlng the following new requirements:
a. Require completlon of an acceptable course of
tralnlng in the principles of massage. The course of trainlng
required by the ordinance would be flexible in nature. The
tralning requirement would not present any barriers to
lndividuals legitlmately lnterested in massage. The ordlnance
would provide a number of optlons to satisfy this requlrement.
b. Requlre an acceptable score on a performance
evaluation that lncludes a practlcable examinatlon by a licensed
professlonal. The evaluation would lnclude professlonal ethlcS
and a knowledge of the City's licensing ordinance. (The test
admlnlstered by the County of Los Angeles would no longer be used
by the Police Department.) The purpose of this evaluatlon would
not be to demonstrate lrrelevant academic knowledge but would be
designed to ensure that persons llcensed by the City possessed
mlnimum Sklll levels.
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c. A requirement that an person recelving a massage
be appropriately draped with a sheet or other garment.
d. A requirement that massage establlshments use
appropriate professlonal tables, not beds.
e. A requirement that massage establishments be
appropriately llluminated ln whlte light.
f. Changlng the permitted hours of operatlon from
7:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.
g. Requirlng an annual health certiflcate from any
llcensed masseur or masseuse.
h. Requiring the operator of any massage
establlshment to demonstrate knowledge concernlng
responslbllitles under the llcenslng ordinance.
2. The second Ob]ectlve of the ordlnance would be to
lncrease the opportunltles for a person satisfYlng the new
requlrements to engage In business ln the C~ty of Santa Monica.
This would be accompllshed by permltting a person, not employed
ln a massage establlshment meetlng the deflnition of an adult
entertainment use under the Adult Use Zonlng Ordlnance, to engage
in massage in someone's home (but not lnclud1ng a hotel or
motel). Although it is recognized that outcall massage may
present some potential for prostitution activlty, it lS believed
that persons meetlng the professlonal standards of the lLcensing
ordinance wl11 not generally engage in thlS actlvlty. Thus, the
importance of providlng addltlonal opportunlties to professionals
Ln this area and the serVlce that can be provided to resldents,
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part1cularly sen10rs c1t1zens and other 1ndividuals, outweighs
the potentlal for abuse.
In addltlon to the features descrlbed above, the new
ordinance will contain the followlng additlonal features:
1. The new requirements would be effectlve immedlately for
all new appllcants for a pollce permit.
2. EXlsting permittees would be requ1red to meet the new
requirements by July 1, 1984. ThlS grandfather per10d wlll
provide a sufflclent opportunity for eXlstlng perm1ttee to
satisfy the new requlrements lf they so deslre.
3. The ordinance wll1 prov1de that fees for admlnlstration
of the ordlnance will be established by resolutl0n. Because of
the more extensive licenslng requlrements, it lS anticipated that
the costs to the City will increase over the existing system. A
fee schedule will be adopted to ensure that the entire costs are
pald through permit fees.
The new requirements will not adversely affect any masseur
or masseuse engaged 1n that professlon. The only persons who
will be adversely affected are persons who engage in
prostltutlon-related actlvlty under the gUlse of massage.
In draft1ng the ordlnance, the Clty Attorney and Police
Department lntend to consult wlth wlth interested organlzatlons
lnclud1ng the Santa Monica School of Massage, V1ncent School of
Massage, Californla Massage Therapist Association, and Tao
Healing Arts Center, recognized professional organlzations in
this area. Preliminary conversations with some of these
organizatlons lndicate general agreement wlth the approach
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outlined above.
Llke the City, these organizatlons desire to
discourage llllcit activitles under the gUlse of massage because
lt glves their professlon a bad name. Accord1ngly, we anticipate
that the ordlnance will be returned to the City Councll with the
general support of the recogn1zed professional organizatlons in
thlS area.
RECOMMENDATION
It 1S respectfully recommended that the C1ty Attorney, in
conjunctlon wlth the Pollce Department, be dlrected to prepare an
ordlnance amend1ng the massage licenslng ordlnance in accordance
wlth this Staff Report.
PREPARED BY: Robert M. Myers, Clty Attorney
James F. Keane, Chief of Police
Bruce Cllne, Detectlve
Nancy Miehle, Detective
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