[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Commissioners
of the Township of Upper Gwynedd 9-19-2023 by Ord. No. 2023-01. Amendments noted where applicable.]
The Board of Commissioners of Upper Gwynedd Township finds as
follows:
A.
That certain illegal businesses or enterprises in the Township that
offer massages and have the word "massage" and/or "spa" in the name
of the business offer prostitution services and may involve human
trafficking and otherwise violate the laws of the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania; and
B.
That unsanitary and otherwise unhealthful conditions have a propensity
to exist in these unregulated businesses or enterprises; and
C.
That the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania regulates individuals that
provide massages but does not regulate massage establishments or alternative
therapy establishments; and
A.
ALTERNATIVE THERAPY
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
ALTERNATIVE THERAPY ESTABLISHMENT
ALTERNATIVE THERAPY TECHNICIAN
CODE ENFORCEMENT OFFICER
MASSAGE THERAPIST
MASSAGE THERAPY
MASSAGE THERAPY ESTABLISHMENT
PERSON
RECOGNIZED SCHOOL
SEXUAL OR GENITAL AREA
THERAPY
Definitions. The following words, terms and phrases, when used in
this chapter, shall have the following meanings ascribed to them:
The practice of an individual who uses touch to affect the energy
systems, acupoints, qi meridians or channels of energy of the human
body while engaged within the scope of practice of a profession with
established standards and ethics. Such practices include acupressure,
Asian bodywork therapy, polarity therapy bodywork, Qigong, Reiki,
Shiatsu and Tui Na;
Reflexology;
The practice of an individual who uses touch, words and directed
movement to deepen awareness of existing patterns of movement in the
body and to suggest new possibilities of movement while engaged within
the scope of practice of a profession with established standards and
ethics; and/or
Any massage-like activity that does not meet the definition
of "massage therapy" set forth hereinafter.
Any place in the Township where alternative therapy is administered
for the payment of a fee or other compensation or consideration, but
not including a hospital, nursing home, medical clinic or the office
of a physician, surgeon, physical therapist, chiropractor or osteopath,
currently licensed as such by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and
including barbershops or practices licensed by the Department of Cosmetology,
or any athletic program of accredited junior and senior high schools
or colleges in which a massage is administered by a trainer within
the scope of such athletic program. Also sometimes referred to as
"premises."
Any person who administers alternative therapy to another
as part of a massage business or alternative therapy business that
is not licensed as such by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
The Code Enforcement Officer of the Township of Upper Gwynedd,
or their duly appointed and authorized representative.
An individual licensed by the State Board of Massage Therapy
to practice massage therapy.
The application of a system of structured touch, pressure,
movement, holding and treatment of the soft tissue manifestations
of the human body in which the primary intent is to enhance the health
and well-being of the client without limitation, except as provided
in this chapter. The term includes the external application of water,
heat, cold, lubricants or other topical preparations, lymphatic techniques,
myofascial release techniques and the use of electromechanical devices
which mimic or enhance the action of the massage techniques. The term
does not include the diagnosis or treatment of impairment, illness,
disease or disability; a medical procedure; a chiropractic manipulation,
adjustment, physical therapy mobilization; manual therapy; therapeutic
exercise; electrical stimulation; ultrasound or prescription of medicines
for which a license to practice medicine, chiropractic, physical therapy,
occupational therapy, podiatry or other practice of the healing arts
is required, or any other area licensed by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Any place in the Township where massage therapy is administered
for the payment of a fee or other compensation or consideration but
not including a hospital, nursing home, medical clinic or the office
of a physician, surgeon, physical therapist, chiropractor or osteopath,
currently licensed as such by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and
including barbershops or practices licensed by the Department of Cosmetology,
or any athletic program of accredited junior and senior high schools
or colleges in which a massage is administered by a trainer within
the scope of such athletic program. Also referred to as "premises."
Any individual, association, firm, partnership, limited partnership,
corporation, trust or other legally recognized entity.
Any school or educational institution licensed to operate
as a school or educational institution in the state in which it is
located or any school recognized or approved by the American Massage
and Therapy Association, Inc., or such other bona fide educational
institution that provides education on massage therapy and/or alternative
therapy. Such educational institution shall have the purpose of teaching
the theory, method, profession or work of an alternative therapy and
issue a diploma or certificate of graduation.
The genitals, pubic area, anus or perineum of any person,
and the vulva and breasts of a female.
"Alternative therapy" or "massage therapy" as defined herein.
B.
Word usage. In this chapter, any word used in the singular shall
include the plural, any word used as a plural shall include the singular,
and the masculine shall include the feminine and the neutral.
A.
License requirements for massage establishments. Requirements for
the issuance of a license as a massage establishment are as follows:
(1)
Licensing of massage establishments. All massage establishments must
register with and be licensed by the Township. No massage establishment
shall engage in massage business unless all massage therapists are
licensed by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The owner and/or operator
of massage establishment shall register its business as well as all
massage therapists and provide copies of the licenses issued by the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for all massage therapists to the Township
on a fully completed application provided by the Township. The application
must be filed in person by the person seeking the license during regular
business hours. The owner and operator of the massage establishment
shall have an ongoing obligation to update the names of massage therapists.
The license fee for such license shall be determined from time to
time by resolution of the Board of Commissioners.
(2)
All massage establishments must provide proof that all other required
business licenses have been obtained and provide confirmation from
the taxing entity that arrangements have been made for the payment
of required business privilege tax, local service tax and/or earned
income tax for its employees.
B.
License requirements for alternative therapy establishments. Requirements
for the issuance of a license as an alternative therapy establishment
are as follows:
(1)
Licensing of alternative therapy establishments. All alternative
therapy establishments must register with and be licensed by the Township.
No alternative therapy establishment shall engage in alternative therapy
business unless all alternative therapy technicians are licensed by
the Township. The owner and/or operator of alternative therapy establishment
shall register its business as well as all alternative therapy technicians
on a fully completed application provided by the Township. The application
must be filed in person by the person seeking the license during regular
business hours. The owner and operator of the alternative therapy
establishment shall have an ongoing obligation to update the names
of alternative therapy technicians. The license fee for such license
shall be determined from time to time by resolution of the Board of
Commissioners.
(2)
All alternative therapy establishments must provide proof that all
other required business licenses have been obtained and provide confirmation
from the taxing entity that arrangements have been made for the payment
of required business privilege tax, local service tax and/or earned
income tax for it employees.
C.
Licensing requirements for alternative therapy technicians. Requirements
for the issuance of a license as an alternative therapy technician
are as follows:
(1)
Fee and contents. Any person desiring to obtain a license to provide
services as an alternative therapy technician shall submit an application
to the Township. A fee shall accompany the submission of the application
to defray the costs of administration and investigation. The amount
of the fee for the alternative therapy technician license shall be
set by resolution of the Board of Commissioners. The application must
be filed in person by the person seeking the license during regular
business hours. The applicant shall be required to identify the alternative
therapy establishment where the applicant will be employed.
(2)
Diploma or certification of graduation. The applicant must receive
training and education and receive a diploma or certification of graduation
from a recognized school. In the event that such person was previously
licensed to perform massages in the Township, not having completed
such course of study, at the expiration of such person's current
license, such person shall be issued a provisional license for a six-month
period for the purpose of enrolling and completing such course of
study.
(3)
Investigation. Applications for licenses for alternative therapy
technicians shall be referred to the Upper Gwynedd Township Police
Department, which shall cause an investigation to be made and report
the findings to the Code Enforcement Officer. Applicants shall cooperate
with any investigation conducted pursuant to the provisions of this
chapter and shall permit access to the proposed place of business
and facilities in conjunction with such investigation. In addition,
each applicant for licenses for an alternative therapy technician
must submit the following:
(a)
Two forms of identification issued by either the federal or
state government, with one containing a photograph.
(b)
FBI criminal background check per the directions at the FBI
website (must be the sealed and unopened envelope from the FBI).
(c)
Certified state police criminal background check for the state
in which they reside (must be notarized).
(d)
Signed release permitting the Upper Gwynedd Township police
to conduct a local records check.
D.
Granting of license. Within 60 days of the receipt of an application,
the required documents set forth above and fee, the Code Enforcement
Officer shall either grant or deny the license applied for by the
applicant. The license shall be granted, provided that the applicant,
as the applicant's name as it appears on the application, has
not been convicted of or entered a plea of guilty to any felony or
has pleaded guilty to a felony or has a felony charge currently pending
or has forfeited bail or has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to
a violation of Section 5902 of the Crimes Code of the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania, 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 5902, pertaining to prostitution
and related offenses, or any law of any other jurisdiction involving
sexual misconduct.
Each massage establishment and alternative therapy establishment
premises shall comply with the following minimum requirements:
A.
The premises shall have adequate equipment for disinfecting instruments
and materials. Such instruments and materials shall be disinfected
after every use.
B.
All tables, bathtubs, shower stalls, steam rooms, sauna rooms, bath
areas and floors shall have surfaces which may be readily disinfected.
Surfaces of all tables or other apparatus used to perform massages
or alternative therapies shall be of a nonporous material that can
be disinfected after each use.
C.
All walls, ceilings, floors, showers, bathtubs, steam rooms, sauna
rooms and all other physical facilities shall be in good repair and
maintained in a clean and sanitary condition. Wet and dry heat rooms,
steam or vapor rooms, or steam or vapor cabinets, shower compartments
and toilet rooms shall be thoroughly cleaned each day the business
is in operation. When carpeting is used on the floors, it shall be
kept dry.
D.
The premises shall be equipped with a service sink for custodial
services.
E.
The premises shall have a minimum of one toilet and one washbasin.
F.
Treatment rooms shall be at least 50 square feet of floor area and
shall maintain a light level of no less than 20 footcandles as metered
at three feet above the surface of the floor (for illustrative purposes
only, such light level is equivalent to light from a single forty-watt
fluorescent light bulb in the fifty-square-foot room). Such rooms
shall contain a door incapable of being locked from either the exterior
or the interior.
G.
The main entrance to the premises must remain unlocked and opened
to the public during regular business hours. All massage establishments
and alternative therapy establishments shall be subject to unannounced
inspections by the Township.
H.
The premises must comply with applicable ordinances of the Township,
including but not limited to the building, fire prevention and zoning
ordinances of the Township.
Every massage establishment and every massage therapist and
every alternative therapy establishment and alternative therapy technician
shall comply with the following minimum requirements:
A.
Prohibited conduct. Only employees of the respective establishments
may offer and provide therapy to clients. Independent contractors
are specifically prohibited.
B.
Therapies may commence operation no earlier than 7:00 a.m. The hours
of operation shall extend no later than 10:00 p.m.
C.
All licenses issued by the Township or Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
shall be on display and available for inspection. Price rates charged
for any and all therapies shall be prominently posted in the reception
area in a location available for view, and no charges may be made
other than in accordance with such posted rates.
D.
No person under the age of 18 years of age shall be permitted to
enter or remain on the premises or receive any massage therapy or
alternative therapy unless accompanied at all times by a parent or
legal guardian.
E.
There shall be an adequate supply of clean towels, linens and coverings.
Towels, linens and coverings shall not be used by or on more than
one patron unless they have first been laundered and disinfected.
Disposable towels, linens and coverings shall not be used by or on
more than one patron. Soiled towels, linens and coverings shall be
deposited in approved receptacles; disposable items shall not be deposited
in the same receptacle as nondisposable items.
F.
Instruments used in administering therapies shall not be used on
more than one patron unless they have first been disinfected. Table
pads and reusable table coverings shall be disinfected after each
use.
G.
The owner, licensee or duly authorized manager shall be on duty at
all times during the hours an establishment is open for business.
H.
Other than while the premises is open for business, eating or drinking
shall not be permitted on the premises. The sale and/or the serving
of alcoholic beverages shall be strictly prohibited at all times unless
duly licensed by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
I.
Animals, except for guide and service animals for the handicapped,
shall not be permitted within the premises.
J.
All employees must be at all times fully clothed in clean and opaque
clothing that fully covers the body from the shoulders to the thighs
and is no shorter than six inches above the knee.
K.
No patron or persons, other than employees of the establishment,
shall remain on the premises more than one hour after closing. The
premises shall not be used as a dwelling unit and may not have a stove
or other food preparation appliances in the premises.
L.
Massage therapists and alternative therapy technicians shall wash their hands immediately prior to and subsequent of the administration of any therapies and shall observe hygiene practices as set forth in the Pennsylvania Massage Therapy Law, 65 P.S. § 627.1 et seq., and accompanying regulations in Chapter 20 of Title 49 of the Pennsylvania Code.
M.
It shall be unlawful for any person providing therapies to place
their hands upon, touch, fondle or otherwise have any physical contact
with, including massaging, a sexual or genital area of any other person
or to offer to so touch any person in a sexual or genital area. It
shall be unlawful for any person providing therapies to expose their
sexual or genital area to any other person.
N.
For the purposes of ascertaining violations of this chapter and conducting
routine inspections, federal, state and county officials, the Code
Enforcement Officer, Deputy Code Enforcement Officers (Township employees
in the Code Enforcement Department or appointed contractor), Health
Inspectors, Building Inspectors, the Fire Marshal or duly authorized
Fire Code Inspectors of the Township, or police officers of the Upper
Gwynedd Township Police Department shall have the right of entry into
the premises of any massage establishment or alternative therapy establishment
during the hours such respective establishment is open for business
or occupied during such hours permitted pursuant to this chapter.
No license issued under the provisions of this chapter shall
be transferable or assignable.
Every license issued under the provisions of this chapter is
subject to revocation for violation of any of the provisions of this
chapter. Said license may be revoked by the Code Enforcement Officer
after notice of the basis for such revocation. The license holder
shall have the right to appeal from such proposed revocation to the
Board of Commissioners and request a hearing. Notice of revocation
shall be given in writing and shall be served at least 10 days prior
to the effective date of the revocation by certified mail, by personal
service on the license holder or by posting the notice upon the entrance
to the massage establishment. The notice shall advise the license
holder of the right to appeal the proposed revocation. A hearing shall
be held before the Township Board of Commissioners, and the license
holder shall have the right to be represented at such hearing and
to produce evidence.
All licenses issued pursuant to the provisions of this chapter
shall be valid for one calendar year and shall expire on December
31 of each calendar year. No later than one month prior to the expiration,
licensees shall make application for renewal of said license.
In addition to the refusal or revocation of a license as provided
under this chapter, any violation of this chapter shall be enforced
by action brought before a District Justice in the same manner provided
for the enforcement of summary offenses under the Pennsylvania Rules
of Criminal Procedure. Any person, firm or corporation who shall violate
any provision of this chapter shall, upon conviction thereof, be sentenced
to pay a fine of not more than $1,000 and/or to imprisonment for a
term not to exceed 10 days. Each day that a violation of this chapter
continues, or each section of this chapter which shall be found to
have been violated, shall constitute a separate offense. For purposes
of this chapter, the doing of any act or thing prohibited by any provision
of this chapter, or the failure to do any act or thing as to which
any provision of this chapter creates an affirmative duty, shall constitute
a violation of this chapter punishable as herein stated. It shall
be an affirmative defense that the violation alleged occurred without
the knowledge of or outside the control of such owner of the property.
Massage establishments, alternative therapy establishments and
alternative therapy technicians operating in the Township of Upper
Gwynedd as of the time of the effective date of this chapter shall
have 60 days from said effective date in which to comply with the
provisions of this chapter.
