Posted on June 18, 2008

Richmond Planning Ordinance Revisions for Massage Businesses

By Katherine Tam
STAFF WRITER

Richmond city officials plan to revamp the local ordinance for massage businesses, citing public and police concerns that there might be too many in the city — or that some could be fronts for criminal activity.

The City Council on Tuesday approved a 180-day moratorium on accepting, processing and approving applications for massage businesses. City planners said they will revise the regulations by more clearly defining massage businesses, placing an emphasis on physical therapy and specifying where they can locate.

A draft ordinance is expected to reach the council for consideration in 60 days.

"This has been a long and ongoing issue," Councilwoman Ludmyrna Lopez said. "Even when I was on the Planning Commission, we requested staff to look at this issue, study it and give us some recommendations."

The existing ordinance requires that massage business applicants obtain a city permit, that therapists undergo 100 hours of instruction in massage therapy, and that applicants file a written application with the police. It gives the police, building inspectors and health officers the authority to inspect the business, and outlines an appeal process for suspended or revoked licenses.

An increasing number of applications for massage businesses has reached City Hall, with two receiving approval in the past six months, Planning Director Richard Mitchell said. The Planning Commission has raised concerns that the ordinance doesn't include consistent criteria or a clear definition for a massage business. Nor does it state where these businesses can be located.

Residents near San Pablo Avenue — where there are multiple massage businesses — have called police with concerns about safety, lighting, traffic and whether the businesses are compatible with neighborhoods, officials said. Mayor Gayle McLaughlin said she has received similar complaints. [emphasis added]

Police Chief Chris Magnus said some people known to be involved in prostitution have been seen entering and leaving some businesses. No business licenses have been revoked, in part because the cases are difficult to investigate and because the department lost its full-time vice unit during the 2004 budget cuts.

Police are in the midst of one investigation and expect to start others, Magnus added.

"Some people consider them to be an excessive number," Mitchell said. "What we're looking to do is develop some uniform standards we can apply that would help us, and with the work of police, to be able to assure community people that when we do approve one of these, we've gone through certain consistent steps."

The council vote to approve the temporary moratorium and revamp the laws was unanimous, with Councilwoman Maria Viramontes absent. Councilman John Marquez said he worries that people confuse parlors that might harbor prostitution with legitimate massage therapists, who should not be penalized.

Richmond is not alone in revisiting its laws.

In 2006, San Pablo tightened its regulations to require therapists to complete 550 hours of state-approved training. Massage establishments cannot operate within 250 feet of a residential district or within 1,000 feet of another massage or adult business. The city followed up in late 2007 with an "adult-oriented business" ordinance that regulates the location and hours of operation of adult bookstores, adult movie theaters, adult viewing booths and other similar businesses.

Also last year, Antioch began requiring therapists to undergo 250 hours of training and experience as well as a background check.

After investigating several massage establishments suspected of prostitution and shutting down one, El Cerrito adopted an ordinance last year that regulated these businesses for the first time. Therapists must undergo 500 hours of training; those seeking a provisional permit must have 150 hours of training and proof they intend to reach 500 hours.

The ordinance goes on to prohibit therapists from exposing parts of their bodies, including the "pubic region, buttocks or any part of their chest area from two inches below the clavicle and down."

Reach Katherine Tam at 510-262-2787 or ktam@bayareanewsgroup.com.