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SR-11-H (2) ------- . ". ,?'-'CJ jj~H -/ e e ~. 2-6) B---t' (? 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. I f- H 1 MAY 1 0 1383 e e 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 2 e e 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. 3 e e 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, 4 '- e e 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 5 '0 e e 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 6 "