[Code 1985, § 10-3]
(a)
HEALTH CLUB
(1)
(2)
(3)
MASSEUR and MASSEUSE
The following words, terms and phrases, when used in this article,
shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section, except where
the context clearly indicates a different meaning:
Any establishment which offers service in the form of massage,
baths, exercises or similar services, in combination to club members,
or to the public for a charge. The term "health club" does not include:
Hospitals, nursing homes, medical clinics or the office or quarters
of a physician, a surgeon or an osteopath;
Exercise clubs exclusively for members or clientele of one sex
alone, where the services, without massage in any form, are performed
by persons of the same sex as the members or clientele; or
Barbershops and beauty parlors.
A person who practices any one or more of the arts of body
massage, whether by hand or mechanical apparatus, oil rubs, corrective
gymnastics, mechanotherapy, dietetics, hot packs, cabinet, tub, shower,
sitz, vapor, steam or any other special type of bath.
[Code 1985, § 10-1]
This article is enacted pursuant to Section 2.1 of the Town Charter, for the purpose of securing and promoting the health, safety and general welfare of the people of the Town.
[Code 1985, § 10-2]
It is hereby declared that the business of operating health
clubs is a business affecting the public health, safety and general
welfare.
[Code 1985, §§ 10-4(a), 10-12]
(a)
It shall be unlawful for any person to engage in the business of
a health club without a permit, or in violation of any requirements
or prohibitions set forth in this chapter or any regulation issued
pursuant thereto.
(b)
Permit forms are obtainable and are processed in the office of the
Town Manager.
[Code 1985, § 10-4(b), (c)]
[Code 1985, § 10-5]
(a)
No person shall give or offer or hold himself or herself out to offer
a massage as a masseur or masseuse within the meaning of this article
or employ, or engage as an independent contractor, any masseur or
masseuse who gives, offers or holds himself or herself out to offer
a massage, unless such person shall have satisfactorily completed
a course of study in body massage in an approved school of instruction
or training within the following criteria and guidelines:
(1)
Such courses shall pertain to anatomy, physiology, hygiene,
first aid, exercise therapy, massage techniques and related aspects
of the art and science of body massage.
(2)
A course of study in body massage shall constitute 1,000 hours
of study in connection with an approved school, as follows:
a.
Five hundred hours shall be accredited instructional hours pertaining
to:
1.
Classroom or clinical training in therapeutic massage and reflexology
techniques.
2.
Classroom or clinical instruction or contraindications for massage.
3.
Classroom or clinical or laboratory instruction to develop a
knowledge of the anatomy and physiology of the systems of the body,
with emphasis on the muscular and skeletal systems.
b.
The additional 500 hours may be accomplished simultaneously
with the academic, clinical or classroom or laboratory training by
virtue of what is commonly known as "on the job training," or may
be certified to by an employer of a masseur or masseuse by sworn affidavit
as having been accomplished before or after February 3, 1983. Such
training shall pertain to understanding the benefits of massage and
assisting the students in developing an awareness of massage as a
therapeutic process.
(b)
Any school or educational institution licensed to do business as
a school or educational institution in the state in which it is located
and providing requisite training shall constitute an approved school.
(c)
Any school recognized by or approved by or affiliated with the American
Massage and Therapy Association, Inc., shall constitute an approved
school.
(d)
Compliance with this section shall first be determined by the Chief
of Police with the same rights of appeal and hearing to the Town Manager
as elsewhere granted in this article.
[Code 1985, § 10-6]
[Code 1985, § 10-7]
(a)
No health club shall begin operations until the building occupied
or to be occupied shall have been approved by the Town Manager, who
shall establish procedures for investigations and reports by the administrative
officers of the building, plumbing, electrical and fire prevention
codes.
(b)
An applicant for a permit to operate a health club shall submit to
the Town Manager plans and specifications of the quarters proposed
to be occupied. Such plans shall show details of entrances, partitions,
windows, openings, ventilation, plumbing fixtures, water supply and
waste and vent connections.
(c)
Each health club shall be equipped with toilet and lavatory facilities
for patrons and separate, readily available toilet and lavatory facilities
for personnel. Each operating area shall be equipped with a hand lavatory.
(d)
Either the club quarters or the floor of the building on which the
quarters are located shall be equipped with a service sink for custodial
services.
[Code 1985, § 10-8]
(a)
All equipment, shower stalls, toilets, lavatories and any other such
accoutrements of the establishment shall be regularly treated with
disinfectants and shall be maintained in a clean and sanitary condition
at all times.
(b)
Health, plumbing, electrical and other inspectors shall be given
access to any part of the quarters of a health club for purposes of
inspection at all reasonable times.
[Code 1985, § 10-9]
(a)
No person shall practice any of the services of a health club without
a certificate of good health issued by a duly licensed physician,
commensurate with the nature of the services rendered. Such certificate
shall be renewed every six months.
(b)
No health club shall knowingly serve any patron infected with any
fungus or other skin infections, nor shall service be performed on
any patron exhibiting skin inflammation or eruptions; provided, that
a duly licensed physician may certify that a person may be safely
served, prescribing the conditions thereof.
(c)
All personnel shall wash their hands in hot running water, using
a proper soap or disinfectant, before giving any service or treatment
to each separate patron.
(d)
All towels and tissues and all sheets or other coverings shall be
used singularly for each patron and discarded for laundering or disposal
immediately after use.
(e)
Nondisposable tools of the trade shall be disinfected after use upon
one patron.
[Code 1985, § 10-10]
(a)
No part of any quarters of any health club shall be used for, or
connected with, any bedroom or sleeping quarters, nor shall any person
sleep in such health club, except for limited periods incidental to
and directly related to a massage or bath. This provision shall not
preclude the location of a health club in separate quarters of a building
housing a hotel or other separate businesses or clubs.
(b)
No owner or manager of a health club shall tolerate in his establishment
any activity or behavior prohibited by the laws of the state, particularly,
but not exclusively, Code of Virginia, § 18.2-344 et seq.,
proscribing prostitution, crimes against nature, a bawdy place, adultery,
fornication, any lewd and lascivious cohabitation, etc., and Code
of Virginia, § 18.2-372 et seq., being the state law on
obscenity, dealing with shameful or morbid interest in nudity or sex,
which appeals to prurient interest, and which covers obscene items,
exhibitions, performances, indecent exposure, illicit photographs
or photographic activity and illicit modeling.
[Code 1985, § 10-11; Ord. of 12-5-1994]
(a)
It shall be unlawful for any establishment, whether private or public,
to operate a massage salon, bath parlor or any similar type business
where any physical contact with the recipient of such services is
provided by a person unless such services are provided by a person
who is a licensed or certified masseur or masseuse at the time such
services are rendered. Any person violating the provision of this
subsection shall, upon conviction, be punished as provided in this
section, and, in addition to such penalty, it shall be the duty of
the Town Manager to revoke the license of the owner or manager of
the establishment wherein the provisions of this subsection shall
have been violated. Violations of this subsection, upon conviction,
shall be punished by a fine not less than $25 nor more than $500,
or by imprisonment of less than 10 days nor more than one year in
the county jail, or by both such fine and confinement.
(b)
No owner or manager shall tolerate in his establishment any activity or behavior which violates this Code, particularly, but not exclusively, those sections which parallel state law on immorality and obscenity as detailed in Section 18-66.
(c)
Any conviction of any employee of a health club of a violation of
such statutes or this Code shall devolve upon the owner or manager
of such club, it being specifically declared hereby that following
such a conviction of any employee, the owner or manager of the club
shall be prosecuted as an accessory to such violation.
[Code 1985, § 10-13]
[Code 1985, § 10-13]
A person who violates any provision of this article shall be
guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.
