Solvang council reverses course on massage ordinance | Local ... - Lompoc Record

[massage]

Solvang City Council members made a U-turn on their road to regulating massage therapists and rerevised an ordinance amendment that will now have to come back for another second reading for final adoption.


The decision will allow massage therapists who obtained their credentials under previous state regulations to obtain a business license without having to spend thousands of dollars to double their hours of education.


California at one time required 250 hours of education for a massage therapist to obtain certification from a training school.


But in 2011, the state amended its regulations to grant the California Massage Therapy Council the authority to issue certificates to aspiring massage therapists.


The City Council subsequently amended its ordinances to require therapists to obtain a CMTC certificate in order to obtain a business license, but the amendment gave them three years to do that.


City staff later learned that CMTC required students to have 500 hours of education before it would issue a certificate, which could be a financial and operational burden on massage therapists who were already practicing under the previous requirements.


In 2015, the state gave local agencies more authority to regulate massage therapists, so the staff proposed an amendment that would grant the city manager the authority to issue a business license if he determined the individual’s experience and education were adequate.


But the council instead decided to change the language to allow the city manager to issue business licenses only to therapists who held valid business licenses since June 27, 2011.


That didn’t sit well with massage therapists.


At the meeting Sept. 26, Jeannie Shelley told the council massage therapists are not required by the state to be a part of CMTC.


She also said she had 35 years of experience, and she was not prepared to go back to school at age 62 and spend another $6,500 to obtain certification that would allow her to do business in the city.


“We have a lot of people who are not going to be able to work of this goes through,” she said.


Monique Olas agreed that massage therapists should be “grandfathered in” based on work history.


“I think overall experience and contributions to the field of massage therapy should be considered,” she said.


Mayor Jim Richardson said he thought the way the council had changed the proposed ordinance would allow anyone who currently held a business license to be grandfathered in.


But City Attorney Roy Hanley responded that was not the vote the council had taken at its previous meeting.


After some discussion, the council unanimously agreed that if a massage therapist was certified by a state-licensed school, he or she could obtain a business license from the city at the discretion of the city manager.


Hanley said that because of the changes to the amendment, the vote should be considered approval of a first reading and the amendment should be brought back again for final approval.


That’s expected to happen when the council meets again at 6:30 p.m. Monday in the council chambers at 1644 Oak St.


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