Note: Prior history: Article 15 entitled "Massage Parlors and Public Bath Establishments", consisting of Sections 3-1.1501 through 3-1.1505, codified from Section II D, Ordinance No. 1440, repealed by implication by Section 1, Ordinance No. 58-NS, effective July 7, 1971.
For the purposes of this article, unless otherwise apparent from the context, certain words and phrases used in this article are defined as follows:
"Massage"
shall mean a method of treating the external parts of the body for remedial or hygienic purposes, consisting of rubbing, stroking, kneading, or tapping with the hand or any instrument.
"Massage establishment"
shall mean an establishment having a fixed place of business where any person, association, firm, or corporation engages in, conducts, or carries on, or permits to be engaged in, conducted, or carried on, any business of giving Turkish, Russian, Swedish, vapor, sweat, electric, salt, magnetic, or any other kind or character of baths, where alcohol rubs, fomentations, baths, manipulations of the body, or similar procedures are given.
"Massage technician" or "technician"
shall mean any person, male or female, who administers to another person, for any form of consideration, a massage, alcohol rub, fomentation, bath, electric or magnetic massage procedure, manipulation of the body, or other similar procedure.
(§ 1, Ord. 58-NS, eff. July 7, 1971)
It shall be unlawful for any person, association, firm, or corporation to engage in, conduct, or carry on, or to permit to be engaged in, conducted, or carried on, in or upon any premises, the business of a massage establishment or to render, or permit to be rendered, massage services at a location removed from a massage establishment in the absence of a permit in writing issued pursuant to the provisions set forth in this article.
(§ 1, Ord. 58-NS, eff. July 7, 1971)
The requirements of this article shall have no application and no effect upon, and shall not be construed as applying to, any persons designated as follows: physicians, surgeons, chiropractors, osteopaths, registered physical therapists registered by the State, or any nurse, employee, or person working under the immediate supervision of a physician, surgeon, chiropractor, or osteopath duly licensed to practice his or her respective profession in the State, nor shall such requirements apply to any treatment administered in good faith in the course of the practice of any healing art or profession by any person licensed to practice any such art or profession under the Business and Professions Code of the State or any other law of the State. Practical nurses or other persons without qualifications as massage technicians, or other persons not otherwise licensed by the State to practice pursuant to the Medical Practice Act, whether employed by physicians, surgeons, chiropractors, or osteopaths or not, may not give massages or massage procedures.
(§ 1, Ord. 58-NS, eff. July 7, 1971)
(a) 
Any person desiring to obtain a permit to operate a massage establishment or to perform massage services shall make an application to the Director of Finance who shall refer all such applications to the Police Chief for an investigation.
(b) 
Each application shall be accompanied by an investigation permit fee of:
(1) 
$100; and
(2) 
Twenty-five dollars per technician.
(§ 1, Ord. 58-NS, eff. July 7, 1971, as amended by § 2 (115), Ord. 624-NS, eff. Dec. 15, 1999)
Any applicant for a permit shall submit the following information:
(a) 
The full name and present address of the applicant;
(b) 
The two previous addresses immediately prior to the present address of the applicant;
(c) 
The written statements of at least five bona fide residents of the City that the applicant is of good moral character;
(d) 
Written proof that the applicant is over the age of 18 years;
(e) 
The applicant's height, weight, and color of eyes and hair;
(f) 
Two portrait photographs at least two (2") inches by two (2") inches;
(g) 
The business, occupation, or employment of the applicant for the three years immediately preceding the date of the application;
(h) 
The massage or similar business license history of the applicant; whether such person, in previously operating in this or another city or state under a license, has had such license revoked or suspended, the reason therefor, and the business activity or occupation subsequent to such action of suspension or revocation;
(i) 
All convictions and the reasons therefor;
(j) 
A certificate from a medical doctor stating that the applicant has, within 30 days immediately prior thereto, been examined and found to be free of any contagious or communicable disease;
(k) 
The applicant shall furnish a diploma or certificate of graduation from a recognized school or other institution of learning wherein the method, profession, and work of massage technician is taught or, in lieu of such diploma or certificate, have had not less than 10 years of actual experience and pass an evaluation by a panel of doctors appointed by the Police Chief. The term "recognized school" shall mean and include any school or institution of learning which has for its purpose the teaching of the theory, method, profession, or work of massage technicians and which school requires a resident course of study of not less than 200 hours to be given in not less than three calendar months before the student shall be furnished with a diploma or certificate of graduation from such school or institution of learning showing the successful completion of such course of study or learning.
Schools offering correspondence courses not requiring the actual attendance of classes shall not be deemed "recognized schools." The Police Chief shall have the right to confirm the fact that the applicant has actually attended classes in a recognized school for the minimum time periods set forth in this subsection; and
(l) 
Such other identification and information necessary to discover the truth of the matters specified in this section as required to be set forth in the application.
Nothing contained in this article shall be construed to deny to the Police Department the right to take fingerprints and additional photographs of the applicant, nor shall anything contained in this article be construed to deny the right of the Police Department to: confirm the height and weight of the applicant and such other information as the Police Chief may reasonably require.
(§ 1, Ord. 58-NS, eff. July 7, 1971)
No permit to conduct a massage establishment shall be issued unless an inspection reveals that the establishment complies with each of the following minimum requirements:
(a) 
A recognizable and readable sign shall be posted at the main entrance identifying the establishment as a massage establishment; provided, however, all such signs shall comply with the sign requirements of the City.
(b) 
Minimum lighting shall be provided in accordance with the provisions of the Uniform Building Code, and, in addition, at least one artificial light of not less than 40 watts shall be provided in each enclosed room or booth where massage services are being performed on a patron.
(c) 
Minimum ventilation shall be provided in accordance with the provisions of the Uniform Building Code.
(d) 
Adequate equipment for disinfecting and sterilizing instruments used in performing the acts of massage shall be provided.
(e) 
Hot and cold running water shall be provided at all times.
(f) 
Closed cabinets shall be provided, which cabinets shall be utilized for the storage of clean linen.
(g) 
In any establishment in which massage services are rendered only to members of the same sex at any one time, such persons of the same sex may be placed in a single separate room, or the operators of the massage establishment may elect to place such persons of the same sex in separate enclosed rooms or booths having adequate ventilation to an area outside such room or booth while massage services are being performed.
(h) 
Adequate bathing, dressing, locker, and toilet facilities shall be provided for patrons. A minimum of one tub or shower, one dressing room containing a separate locker for each patron to be served, which locker shall be capable of being locked, as well as a minimum of one toilet and one washbasin shall be provided by every massage establishment; provided, however, if male and female patrons are to be served simultaneously at the establishment, separate bathing, a separate massage room, separate dressing rooms, and separate toilet facilities shall be provided for male and for female patrons.
(i) 
All walls, ceilings, floors, pools, showers, bathtubs, steam rooms, and all other physical facilities for the establishment shall be in good repair and be 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. Bathtubs shall be thoroughly cleaned after each use.
(j) 
Clean and sanitary towels and linens shall be provided for each patron of the establishment or each patron receiving massage services. No common use of towels shall be permitted.
(k) 
A minimum of one separate washbasin shall be provided in each massage establishment for the use of the employees of any such establishment, which washbasin shall provide soap or detergent and hot and cold running water at all times and be located within or as close as practicable to the area devoted to the performing of massage services. In addition, there shall be provided at each washbasin sanitary towels placed in permanently installed dispensers.
(l) 
Proof of compliance with all the applicable provisions of this Code and other applicable codes and ordinances of the City shall be provided.
(§ 1, Ord. 58-NS, eff. July 7, 1971)
Any applicant for a permit pursuant to the provisions of this article shall personally appear at the Police Department and produce proof to the Police Department that the permit investigation fee has theretofore been paid to the Director of Finance, and thereupon such applicant shall present to the Police Department the application containing the afore-mentioned and described information. The Police Chief shall have a reasonable time in which to investigate the application and the background of the applicant. Based on such investigation, the Police Chief, or his or her representative, shall render a recommendation as to the approval or denial of the permit to the Director of Finance.
The Building Department, the division of fire protection, and the County Health Department shall inspect the premises proposed to be devoted to the massage establishment and shall make separate recommendations to the Director of Finance concerning compliance with the foregoing provisions.
The Director of Finance, after receiving the aforementioned and described recommendations, shall grant a permit to the establishment for a period of one year, if all the requirements for a massage establishment described in this article are met, and shall issue a permit for a period of one year to all persons who have applied to perform massage services unless it appears that any such person has deliberately falsified the application or unless it appears that the record of such persons reveals a conviction of a felony or a crime of moral turpitude.
Any person denied a permit pursuant to the provisions of this article by the Director of Finance may appeal to the Council within 15 days after the Director of Finance denies the permit. Such appeal shall be in writing and shall set forth the reasons why the permit should be granted. A hearing shall be held by the Council not more than 45 days after such appeal is filed.
All permits issued pursuant to the provisions of this article shall be nontransferable; provided, however, a change of location of a massage establishment may be permitted pursuant to the provisions of Section 3-1.1509 of this article.
(§ 1, Ord. 58-NS, eff. July 7, 1971, as amended by § 2 (115), Ord. 624-NS, eff. Dec. 15, 1999)
Every person, association, firm, or corporation to whom or for which a permit shall have been granted shall display such permit in a conspicuous place so that the same may be readily seen by persons entering the premises where the massage, bath, or treatment is given, and each operator or technician shall wear a permit on his or her outer clothing at all times he or she is on duty.
(§ 1, Ord. 58-NS, eff. July 7, 1971)
A change of location of any of the aforementioned and described premises may be approved provided all ordinances and regulations of the City are complied with and the change of location fee of $50 for each such change is deposited with the City.
(§ 1, Ord. 58-NS, eff. July 7, 1971)
For the purposes of this article, it shall be grounds for the revocation of a permit for any person to massage any other person, or to give or administer any bath or baths, or to give or administer any of the other things mentioned in this article for immoral purposes or in a manner intended to arouse, appeal to, or gratify the lusts or passions or sexual desires. Any violation of the provisions of this section or other statutes or laws pertaining to immoral conduct shall be deemed grounds for the revocation of the permit granted pursuant to the provisions of this article.
(§ 1, Ord. 58-NS, eff. July 7, 1971)
It shall be the responsibility of the holder of the permit for the massage establishment, or the employer of any persons purporting to act as massage technicians, to insure that each person employed as a massage technician shall first have obtained a valid permit pursuant to the provisions of this article. No registered massage technician aide may independently practice the acts of massage, but he or she may, as a massage technician aide, assist a technician in the acts constituting the practice of massage under the immediate personal supervision and employment of a registered massage technician, but such aide may assist only while the massage technician is personally present with the patron, and such aide may not perform massage services.
Any massage technician aide shall comply with the requirements of Section 3-1.1505 of this article.
(§ 1, Ord. 58-NS, eff. July 7, 1971)
The Police Department, the Building Department, the division of fire protection, and the County Health Department shall, from time to time and at least twice each year, make an inspection of each massage establishment in the City for the purpose of determining that the provisions of this Code are being met.
(§ 1, Ord. 58-NS, eff. July 7, 1971)
Every person, association, firm, or corporation operating a massage establishment under a permit as provided in this article shall keep a record of the date and hour of each treatment, the name and address of the patron, and the name of the technician administering such treatment. Such record shall be open to inspection by officials charged with the enforcement of these provisions for the purposes of law enforcement and for no other purpose. The information furnished or secured as a result of any such inspection shall be confidential. Any unauthorized disclosure or use of such information by any officer or employee of the City shall constitute a misdemeanor, and such officer or employee shall be subject to the penalty provisions of this Code, in addition to any other penalties provided by law. Identical records shall be kept of treatments rendered off the business site and, in addition, shall describe the address where the treatment was rendered. Such records shall be maintained for a period of two years.
(§ 1, Ord. 58-NS, eff. July 7, 1971)
No person licensed to do business as provided in this article shall operate under any name or conduct his or her business under any designation not specified in his or her permit.
(§ 1, Ord. 58-NS, eff. July 7, 1971)
Any permit granted under the provisions of this article may be suspended or revoked by the Director of Finance when it shall appear that the business or calling of the person to whom such permit was granted is conducted in a disorderly or improper manner, or in violation of any statute of the State or law of the City, or that the person conducting the business is of an unfit character to conduct the same, or that the purpose for which the permit has been issued is being abused to the detriment of the public or is being used for a purpose wholly foreign to that for which the permit was issued.
A permit granted under the provisions of this article shall not, by virtue of the provisions of this section, be revoked, canceled, or suspended until a hearing shall have been held by the Director of Finance relative to so doing. Written notice of the time and place of such hearing shall be served upon the permittee at least five days prior to the date set for such hearing. Such notice shall also contain a brief statement of the grounds to be relied upon for revoking, canceling, or suspending such permit. Notice may be given either by the personal delivery thereof to the person to be notified or by deposit in the United States mail in a sealed envelope, postage prepaid, addressed to such person to be notified at the business address appearing upon the application for the permit. Any person aggrieved by the action of the Director of Finance may appeal to the Council within the time and in the manner provided in Section 3-1.1507 of this article.
(§ 1, Ord. 58-NS, eff. July 7, 1971, as amended by § 2 (115), Ord. 624-NS, eff. Dec. 15, 1999)
The provisions of this article shall be applicable to all persons and businesses described in this article, whether the activities described in this article were established before or after July 7, 1971; provided, however, existing licensees shall not be required to pay the initial application and investigation fees imposed by Section 3-1.1504 of this article.
(§ 1, Ord. 58-NS, eff. July 7, 1971)
Any massage establishment operated, conducted, or maintained contrary to the provisions of this article shall be and the same is hereby declared to be unlawful and a public nuisance, and the City Attorney, in addition to or in lieu of prosecuting a criminal action hereunder, may commence an action or proceeding for the abatement, removal, and enjoinment thereof in the manner provided by law and shall take such other steps and shall apply to such courts as may have jurisdiction to grant such relief as will abate or remove such massage establishments and restrain and enjoin any person from operating, conducting, or maintaining a massage establishment contrary to the provisions of this article.
(§ 1, Ord. 58-NS, eff. July 7, 1971)
Any permit issued pursuant to the provisions of this article may be renewed from year to year upon an application therefor. Such application shall be made in the same manner as for an original application and shall be made within 30 days after the date of the expiration of such permit or the last renewal thereof and, if not so made, the permit shall be null and void. A fee of $50 shall be charged for any application for a yearly renewal for an establishment, and a permit fee of Fifteen dollars shall be charged for a yearly renewal for a technician's permit.
If there shall be no good cause for revocation or refusal, the Director of Finance, after receiving the recommendations set forth in Section 3-1.1507 of this article, shall grant a renewal of the yearly permit upon the payment of the sum of $50 for each establishment and $15 for each technician; provided, however, such establishment fee shall be credited against any license fee payable pursuant to the provisions of Section 3-1.1519 of this article.
(§ I, Ord. 58-NS, eff. July 7, 1971, as amended by § 1, Ord. 67-NS, eff. March 23, 1972, § 1, Ord. 415-NS, eff. January 1, 1987, and § 2 (115), Ord. 624-NS, eff. Dec. 15, 1999)
The business license tax for massage establishments shall be as set forth in Section 3-1.204 of Article 2 of this chapter and shall be payable as set forth in Section 3-1.115 of Article 1 of this chapter; provided, however, no business license may be issued until the permit required by the provisions of this article is first obtained.
(§ 1, Ord. 58-NS, eff. July 7, 1971)