Simi Valley officials say illicit massage activity apparently on rise - Ventura County Star

[massage]

By Mike Harris of the Ventura County Star

Yesterday 7:32 p.m. 1

Illicit activities at some Simi Valley massage establishments appear to be rising, with about 20 misdemeanor charges filed since code enforcement was recently ramped up, officials say.

Police said "a shocking number" of massage businesses are fronts for prostitution, while others are legitimate.

The apparent increase in illegal activities led the City Council to enact an urgency ordinance last week, clarifying language in the city's massage ordinance related to inspections and searches of the businesses by police and code enforcement. Inspections may be made during business hours, with or without notice.

City Attorney Lonnie Eldridge said the urgency ordinance was intended to ensure that the search provisions of the city's massage ordinance are in full compliance with the best practices for code enforcement under state law.

"It is a relatively minor technical change, which ensures that searches ... are initiated for the purpose of verifying compliance with the massage ordinance, rather than the prior language, which read 'all applicable laws,'" he said. "The new language is more focused on the purpose of the search."

Besides the approximately 20 misdemeanor charges that have been filed since February for alleged violations of the massage ordinance, police say there has been a "dramatic increase" in sexually explicit advertising by some of the city's massage businesses, Eldridge wrote in a memo to the council.

That "strongly suggests an increase in illicit activities," he wrote.

The council in January extended its moratorium on new massage businesses for up to another year to allow city staff time to finalize study of the issue. The council initially adopted the moratorium in 2015 as a result of the state returning some regulatory control of massage businesses to local governments.

About Mike Harris


Mike Harris is the Star's Simi Valley, transportation and one of its land-use (Price of Paradise) reporters.


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