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  • Citrus Heights extends ban on new massage permits thru 2015

    Updated Jan. 27, 2:58 p.m.–
    City council members voted unanimously last week to pass an “urgency ordinance” that extends a 45-day temporary ban on new massage permits for another 10 months, citing continued concerns about prostitution in Citrus Heights massage parlors and a need to give staff additional time to revise regulations.

    Massage sign, stock photo. //Citrus Heights Sentinel
    Massage sign, stock photo. //Citrus Heights Sentinel

    The wording of the council’s ban declares a “current and immediate threat to public health, safety and welfare,” and prohibits relocating, expanding or opening new massage establishments for 10-and-a-half months, in accordance with California’s Government Code section 65858.

    During a public hearing just prior to approving the moratorium extension, council members heard from several local massage therapists who expressed support for cracking down on illegal activity, although one owner was critical of the effect she said the temporary ban has already had on her business.

    “Nobody wants the illicit acts that are going on under the guise of massage,” said therapist BJ Pitts, telling the council she was willing to help revise the City’s massage ordinance. “We have to get them out.”

    “We are licensed; we are not prostitutes,” Certified Massage Therapist Susan Langley told the council Thursday night, saying she’d opened a new massage business on Auburn Boulevard several months ago — before the initial 45-day moratorium was passed December 11. Having no idea about the ban, she expressed frustration when she found out the provision barring “expansion” meant she can’t rent out rooms or hire additional therapists in her new facility.

    Council members expressed support and sympathy for law-abiding establishments affected by the moratorium and welcomed the offer for massage therapists to aid the City in crafting a new ordinance.

    “By no means are we trying to limit or punish legitimate businesses,” council member Steve Miller said during his comments. “Unfortunately, a few bad apples spoil it for everybody.”

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    Involving the City attorney’s office, police and several other departments, City staff have already formed an inter-departmental team to work on proposed massage ordinance changes, according to Community and Economic Development Director Rhonda Sherman. She said any changes will be presented to the council at a work session later this year, before being taken up for a vote on final adoption.

    Revisions to the City’s code are expected to reflect additional discretionary and regulatory power granted to cities under recently passed Assembly Bill 1146, which came into effect January 1, 2015. According to City Attorney Ruthann Ziegler, the legislature had taken away this regulatory power with the passage of SB 731 in 2008, and city leaders across the state have blamed the law for the proliferation of massage parlors in recent years.

    As passed, the extended ban is set to expire in December of this year, although council members expressed hope that a new set of comprehensive massage regulations could be passed before then.

    <<For more background and police perspective, see prior story: “Citrus Heights bans new massage permits; cites prostitution“>>

  • Citrus Heights bans new massage permits; cites prostitution

    Neon sign, massage sauna 2005. Photo credit, Justin Cormack
    Neon sign, massage sauna, 2005. Photo credit, Justin Cormack (cc-by-sa-2.0)

    Following undercover sting operations in the past month resulting in two arrests for prostitution, Citrus Heights council members unanimously passed an “urgency ordinance” last week declaring a 45-day moratorium on most new massage parlors, citing the need for “detailed study of possible adverse affects” and time to pass new comprehensive regulations in light of a new state law.

    “[T]he city council finds that the establishment of new, and the relocation or expansion of existing, massage establishments or businesses offering related services prior to the completion of the City’s review poses a threat to the public health, safety and welfare,” a portion of the new ordinance reads, citing instances of prostitution, risk of blight and “other illegal activity” at massage establishments in the past.

    [Update: “Citrus Heights extends massage moratorium thru 2015″]

    In addition to receiving numerous complaints, City staff said code enforcement inspections at local massage establishments also found cases of unlicensed therapists, locks on massage room doors, and “inappropriately dressed” therapists.

    Additionally, Community and Economic Development Director Rhonda Sherman told council members that Citrus Heights has more than doubled its massage parlor establishments, going from 20 in 2008 up to almost 50, with another two “in the pipeline.”

    Sherman’s report brought strong reaction from at least one council member, as well as a comment from the police chief.

    “Did I hear the numbers correct? I mean we’re 15-and-a-half square miles, 84,000 people — did I hear you say 50, as in roughly ‘five-zero’?” council member Jeff Slowey asked Sherman. “I think that’s plenty of helping hands in this city right now… that’s just ridiculous.”

    Citrus Heights Police Chief Christopher Boyd affirmed Slowey’s comments, calling the steep rise in massage parlors “outrageous,” adding the urgency ordinance was “very necessary.”

    “We have way, way more than really anyone we compare with,” Chief Boyd said regarding the number of local massage parlors compared to other cities, although stating he wasn’t sure why. “We need to change this back to local control so we can get a handle on it.”

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    The temporary ban comes in anticipation of AB 1146, set to take effect January 1, which returns much of the discretionary power cities and counties once had to regulate massage parlors. According to City Attorney Ruthann Ziegler, this regulatory power of cities was taken away by the legislature with the passage of SB 731 in 2008, and city leaders across the state blame the law for the proliferation of massage parlors in recent years.

    The temporary ordinance acknowledges “most massage establishments throughout the City are operated lawfully and professionally,” and contains over a page of exceptions to the ban, including massage for athletic or physician-related purposes and an allowance for existing massage establishments to renew their permits.

    The ban will expire on January 25, but staff said they anticipate requesting an extension to allow time for further study and passage of a comprehensive new ordinance.

    Folsom and Elk Grove also passed similar moratoriums last week, as have other cities across the state.