Agenda Item Wording:
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Massage Establishment Ordinance Discussion - Consideration of and direction on initiating potential Municipal Code updates to Visalia Municipal Code Chapter 5.68 Massage Establishments.
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Deadline for Action: 5/19/2025
Submitting Department: Community Development
Contact Name and Phone Number:
Tracy Robertshaw, Neighborhood Preservation Manager, (559)713-4187, tracy.robertshaw@visalia.city
Paul Bernal, Planning and Community Preservation Director, (559)713-4025, paul.bernal@visalia.city
Department Recommendation:
Staff recommends that City Council conduct a review of Chapter 5.68 that governs how massage establishments operate and conduct business. Based on the information provided, the City Council may direct staff to formulate changes related to massage establishments and begin processing a Municipal Code Text Amendment to implement these changes.
Executive Summary:
In March of 2024, based on an increase in requests for Conditional Use Permits (CUP) for massage establishments Council approved an Urgency Ordinance to regulate the location and operational requirements for massage establishments. In doing so, staff also informed the City Council that staff would also seek to update the current massage business requirements/regulations as defined in Chapter 5.68 Massage Establishments of the Visalia Municipal Code.
This Work Session staff report is an overview of staff’s recommendations to the City Council on changes the Council could direct staff to implement, including additional input from the Council on items they would like to have addressed in the massage ordinance update which will be brought back to the City Council for consideration to adopt at a future public hearing. Please note direction received from the City Council regarding potential changes to Chapter 5.68 will also be shared with the appropriate stakeholders for their input prior to bringing back a formal ordinance adoption through the public hearing process.
Background Discussion:
Upon the adoption of the urgency ordinance, a Code Enforcement Officer was assigned to inspect approved massage establishments to assure that the businesses were in compliance with the current municipal code, their Conditional Use Permit (CUP) approvals for those establishments that were permitted to operate subject to a CUP approval, as well as the urgency ordinance. Over the course of five months, 60 proactive inspections were conducted and 29 of those locations were found to be in violation. While some of the violations were minor and easily corrected, some were significant, resulting in 15 of the establishments issued a Cease and Desist order. Of those issued a Cease and Desist order, 11 were not allowed to reopen based on the egregious nature of the violations.
Although staff were able to utilize the current ordinances as written, the inspections highlighted the need for a review of Section 5.68, as well as incorporating the Urgency Ordinance requirements to assure that the best interest of the community, as well as the massage establishments, is being served.
After reviewing both Section 5.68 Massage Establishments (see Attachment 1), the Urgency Ordinance measures (see Attachment 2), and other local municipalities massage establishment ordinances, the following is a summary of the topics that should be considered for revisions:
Recommended revisions to Chapter 5.68:
1. Update to Section 5.68.020 Definitions.
Staff’s review of the current definitions contained in Section 5.68.020 has noted that several of these definitions can be updated and several new definitions should be incorporated based on staff’s analysis of other municipalities massage establishment ordinances, including information obtained from the California Certified Massage Therapy Council (CAMTC). The addition of new definitions as recommended by staff include:
• Authorized massage professional: means a massage professional who is identified in a permit issued pursuant to this chapter as a person employed or retained by a massage establishment to practice massage.
• CAMTC-certified massage professional: means any individual currently certified by the California Massage Therapy Council as a massage therapist or massage practitioner pursuant to Business and Professions Code Section 4600 et seq.
• "Massage," “massage therapy,” and/or “bodywork” for the purpose of this chapter: means the skillful application of touch, any method of pressure on, or friction against, or stroking, kneading, rubbing, tapping, pounding, vibrating or stimulating the external parts of the human body with the hands or with the aid of any mechanical or electrical apparatus, or other appliances or devices, with or without such supplementary aids as rubbing alcohol, liniment, antiseptic, oil, powder, cream, lotion, ointment or other similar preparations. (Exclusions to this chapter are also described in Section 5.68.110. This chapter is not intended to regulate massages that not part of a business occupation.)
• "Massage establishment": means any business that offers massage therapy, baths or health treatments including, but not limited to, aromatherapy, vapor, shower, electric tub, sponge, hot towels, mineral fermentation, sauna, steam or any other type of bath, involving massages or baths in exchange for compensation. Home-based massage businesses and businesses that provide outcall massage services are also considered to be massage establishments. For purposes of this chapter, the term “massage establishment” may be applied to include establishments which offer or advertise themselves as providing “relaxation” or “tanning” where the essential nature of the interaction between the employee and the customer involves “massage” as defined herein. The terms, names or phrases listed on business license or fictitious name application forms are not necessarily conclusive as to the nature of the business.
• Owner” or “massage establishment owner” means any of the following persons.
‒ The sole proprietor of a sole proprietorship operating a massage establishment.
‒ Any general partner of a general or limited partnership that owns a massage establishment.
‒ Any person who has a ten percent or greater ownership interest in a corporation that owns a massage establishment.
‒ Any person who is a member of a limited liability company that owns a massage establishment.
‒ All owners of any other type of business association that owns a massage establishment.
2. Update to Section 5.68.060 Massage establishment owner background check required.
Staff’s review of Section 5.68.060 has noted that clean language to this section is required to address background checks with clarifying language regarding persons convicted in a court of law on specific penal code offenses. Inclusion of this language, as recommended by staff, can be addressed as follows:
The applicant, if an individual, or in the case of an applicant which is a corporation or partnership, any of its officers, directors, or shareholder of the corporation's stock required to complete a background investigation, has not been convicted in a court of competent jurisdiction of any of the following offenses: Penal Code §§ 207; 236.1; 243.4; 261; 266a through 266j; 267; 314 to 316; 318; or 647(a, b, d, j); 653.22 any offense requiring registration under Penal Code § 290 or Health and Safety Code § 11590; or any felony offense involving the possession, possession for sale, sale, transportation, furnishing, or giving away of a controlled substance specified in Health and Safety Code §§ 11054 to 11058, as amended; or any offense in another state which, if committed in California, would have been punishable as one (1) or more of the heretofore mentioned offenses; or any offense involving the use of force or violence upon the person of another; or any offense involving theft, embezzlement or moral turpitude.
3. Inclusion of a defined Permit Application Process.
Staff, after review recommendations from CAMTC and other municipalities massage establishment ordinances, staff recommends the update to the City’s current massage establishment ordinance define an application process that is inquisitive and robust to ensure that all information being submitted, including services offered and the name of individual(s) who the massage establishment employs or retains to perform massage therapy for compensation is required as part of the application process. Staff recommends language to include the following:
• Creation of an application (see Attachment 3 as an example of the application currently being drafted by staff).
‒ The application shall include the following information:
§ Name, address, and telephone number of the massage establishment.
§ The name, residence address and telephone number, and business address and telephone number of each owner of the massage establishment.
§ The form of business under which the applicant will be conducting the massage establishment.
‒ A description of the proposed massage establishment, including the type of treatments to be administered.
§ The name of each individual who the massage establishment employs or retains to perform massage therapy for compensation.
§ Require For each owner of the massage establishment who is a CAMTC-certified massage professional, a copy of his or her current certification from the CAMTC as a certified massage practitioner or as a certified massage therapist and a copy of his or her current CAMTC-issued identification card.
§ A statement that within the last five (5) years the applicant has not failed to comply with a final court order or administrative action of an investigatory agency finding a violation of applicable federal, state and local wage and hour laws.
4. Update to Section 5.68.070 Display of Permit.
This section, after reviewing other ordinances, needs to be revised to address how a permit is obtained. Based on the inclusion of a defined application process, this section will be revised to address the display of all approvals issued by the City. Example language to address this could state the following:
• Any owner of a massage establishment or off-premise massage service must display the CAMTC certificates for all massage technicians prominently in a conspicuous place, capable of being viewed by customers or city representatives, at every location where massage is performed or conducted.
• Any persons operating under the limited exception described in Section 5.68.040(D) must display the statement from the city documenting their exemption from the CAMTC certification prominently in a conspicuous place capable of being viewed by customers or city representatives, or carry it with them for off-premise massage services.
5. Revise Section 5.68.100 Facilities and Operations.
This section, as currently drafted, did not provide additional language to help in regulating how the business should operate based on the industry’s best practices. However, when the City Council adopted the Urgency Ordinance (see Ordinance No. 2024-05) it lacks conditions related to employee and public safety, such as lighting, locked doors and residential uses. The Urgency Ordinance addressed these issues, and staff recommends that language be added to this update as follows (wording providing below is a summary, please see Attachment 2 for entire ordinance wording):
• Hours of Operation. All massage establishments shall be allowed to operate only between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. No Massage shall be Performed between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m.
• No Massage Establishment located in a building or structure with exterior windows fronting a public street, highway, walkway, or parking area shall block visibility into the interior reception and waiting area.
• Doors. All front, reception, hallway, or front exterior doors except back or rear exterior doors used for employee entrance to and exit from the massage establishment) shall be kept unlocked during business hours.
• Minimum lighting consisting of at least one artificial light of not less than forty watts shall be provided and shall be operating in each room.
• Living Quarters Prohibited. No person or persons shall be allowed to reside, inside a Massage Establishment at any time.
• No person shall enter, be or remain in any part of a Massage Establishment while in possession of an open container of alcohol, or consuming or using any alcoholic beverages or controlled drugs.
• No Massage Establishment shall operate a school of massage or use the same facilities as that of a school of massage.
6. Inclusion of a Massage establishment inspections section.
Staff recommends that the revised massage establishment ordinance contain a section regarding the City’s ability to inspect massage establishments by either the City’s Building and Safety Division, Code Enforcement Division, Fire Department and Police Department and the County Health Department. A review of other municipalities massage establishment ordinances identified similar language, and the adopted Urgency Ordinance (see Attachment 2) also incorporated this language. Based on this recommendation, staff recommends the following language be included as follows:
The operator and/ or on duty responsible managing employee shall consent to the inspection of the massage establishment by the City's Building and Safety Division, Code Enforcement Division, Fire Department and Police Department and the County Health Department for the purpose of determining that the provisions of this ordinance or other applicable laws or regulations are met. The City' s Building and Safety Division, Code Enforcement Division, Fire Department and Police Department and the County Health Department may, from time to time, make unannounced inspections of each massage establishment for the purpose of determining that the provisions of this chapter, State law or other applicable laws or regulations are met.
7. Update to Section 5.68.130 Revocation.
Similar to Section 5.68.100 Facilities and Operations, as noted above, this section chapter currently does not contain language related to the requirements to hold a valid California Massage Therapy Council (CAMTC). Additionally, there is very little information on criminal activity and inappropriate behavior as a cause for revocation. To address this issue, staff recommends language be incorporated into this section to address this oversight as follows:
• All massage establishment operators shall be deemed to know and understand the requirements and prohibitions of this chapter. A determination to suspend or revoke a permit issued under this chapter may be made by the inspector following an inspection. Suspensions may be issued until a specific violation has been corrected, which requires an inspection by the City for confirmation of correction. If a suspension is issued, then no massage business may be conducted by the permit holder at the specified location, or by the specified license holder. Any massage establishment permit issued pursuant to this chapter may be suspended or revoked if any of the following have occurred on even a single occasion:
- Any disciplinary action taken by CAMTC shall be considered in determining grounds for revocation.
- The permittee or any person employed or retained by the massage establishment has been convicted in a court of competent jurisdiction of having violated, or has engaged in conduct constituting a violation of any penal code listed in 5.58.060 B.
- The permittee or any person employed or retained by the massage establishment is required to register under Section 290 of the California Penal Code.
- The permittee has continued to operate the massage establishment after the massage establishment permit has been suspended.
- Massage has been performed on the premises of the massage establishment, with or without the permittee’s actual knowledge, by any person who is not a duly authorized CAMTC-certified massage professional.
8. Update to Section 5.68.150 - Appeal.
This section needs to be revised to include language regarding the Administrative Hearing process outlined in Visalia Municipal Code Chapter 1.13, which is utilized in matters regarding revocation of a massage establishments permit and/or business tax certificate.
9. Conditional Use Permit Process for Massage Establishments (Section 17.25).
The City’s Zone Use Matrix, 17.25.030 list Massage Therapist as “conditionally permitted” (i.e., CUP required) in the following zones:
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- Neighborhood Commercial (N-C) |
- Professional / Administrative Office (O-PA) |
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- Commercial Mixed Use (C-MU) |
- Office Conversion (O-C) |
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- Downtown Mixed Use (D-MU) |
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Whereas Massage Therapist is identified as a “Permitted” use in the Regional Commercial (C-R) zone. However, with the adoption of the Urgency Ordinance, this use requires a Conditional Use Permit while the urgency ordinance is in effect.
Staff recommends keeping the CUP requirement for “Massage Therapist / Establishments” at this time in all the zones as noted above and amend the use in the C-R zone from “Permitted” to “Conditionally Permitted”.
10. 750-foot Separation Requirement.
Additionally, staff would recommend that the 750-foot separation requirement from other massage establishments, as adopted in the Urgency Ordinance (see Attachment 2), not be required in the ordinance update. The separation requirement became an issue for small independent massage therapists seeking to relocate their sole-proprietor business to a building/location that met their needs but was no longer viable because in order to get their massage business established, in addition to the CUP process, a Variance application was also required due to the massage business not meeting the 750-foot separation requirement. This was evident with sole-proprietor massage establishments seeking to locate their business in the Bank of Sierra building in the downtown area, several of the office spaces along Church Street between Main Street and Acequia Avenue, and Sola Salon Studios located at the Sequioa Mall.
Next Steps:
Based on direction received, staff will work on drafting updates to the Massage Establishment ordinance which will be presented to the Council at a future meeting. In addition, staff will be working to schedule a stakeholder meeting with massage establishments to discuss City Council’s direction on updates to the massage establishment ordinance and to solicit their input for additional information in preparation of the ordinance update.
Fiscal Impact:
None
Prior Council Action:
• On March 4, 2024, the City Council approved an Urgency Ordinance to regulate the location and operational requirements for massage establishments city.
• On June 3, 2024, the City Council extend Ordinance No. 2024-05, an interim ordinance adopted as emergency measures to regulate the location and operational requirements for massage establishments.
Alternatives: The City Council may, in lieu of the recommended motion, direct staff to not process any amendments to Visalia Municipal Code Section 5.68.
Recommended Motion (and Alternative Motions if expected):
recommendation
I move to direct staff to begin drafting revisions to Chapter 5.68 Massage Establishments, based on the information provided in the staff report, and direction provided during the work session presentation.
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Environmental Assessment Status: No environmental assessment required at this time. The adoption of any ordinance changes will require environmental documentation pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) to be completed by staff.
CEQA Review: The requested action is not a “project” under CEQA.
Attachments:
1. Chapter 5.68 Massage Establishments
2. Urgency Ordinance No. 2024-03
3. Draft Massage Establishment Application
4. PowerPoint Presentation