Lake Forest reinstates regulations against massage businesses - OCRegister

[massage]

This 2010 file photo shows a room after sheriff's civil unit shut down Lake Forest Body Centre, a massage parlor accused of selling sex for pay and breaking city and state laws. FILE: KEN STEINHARDT, , ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

LAKE FOREST – The city has decided to reinstate licensing and zoning regulations for massage parlors to crack down on businesses offering illegal sexual services.

Earlier this month, the City Council voted to add the following to the city ordinance

All new massage businesses must get a use permit before opening in Lake Forest’s commercial and urban activity zoning districts. Massage businesses are prohibited in industrial, office, canyon commercial, agriculture and open space zoning districts.

All massage businesses must obtain a $157 massage establishment license from the city’s police services department and renew it every year.

The decision was finalized Tuesday after the council approved the second reading. The new ordinance allows the city to monitor massage businesses and shut them down if they provide illegal services.

Lake Forest has regulated massage parlors since 1996. Then, the city required licenses for massage establishments and practitioners. The city also prohibited massage parlors from operating in industrial and office districts, which provide some anonymity for patrons in the evening. Sheriff’s officials say most illegal massage activities occur in covert areas.

In 2009, however, the state legislature passed Senate Bill 731, reducing the power of cities and counties to regulate massage businesses that employ therapists certified by the California Massage Therapy Council. The law banned local governments from treating massage businesses differently from other professional services.

Lake Forest amended the zoning code to allow massage businesses in any commercial, industrial and office zones. Businesses were allowed to remain open even if their practitioners were cited for illegal activity, according to a city staff report.

The tide shifted in 2014 when Gov. Jerry Brown signed Assembly Bill 1147, which superseded the senate bill and expanded local control over massage establishments.

As a result, Lake Forest restored its regulations this month.

The city has 37 massage businesses, most of which opened after SB 731 passed, according to the city staff report.

Five arrests or citations occurred at massage parlors in Lake Forest from 2011 to 2015, sheriff’s officials said. During that period, Laguna Hills had seven incidents and Mission Viejo had one.

Although Councilman Jim Gardner voted in favor of the ordinance, he said he didn’t want to limit where people could open businesses. He said he didn’t believe massage businesses were a hotbed of crime considering the small number of incidents.

Contact the writer: 949-445-6397 or [email protected]


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