Newport Beach : Restrictions on Massage Parlors Tightened Up

Prostitutes will have a tougher time conducting business in Newport Beach massage parlors as a result of strengthened regulations that officials say should curb the city’s burgeoning illegal sex trade.

New sections of the massage parlor ordinance, passed unanimously by the City Council on Tuesday, require parlor owners to operate only between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. and to carry liability insurance with minimum coverage of $500,000.

City Atty. Robert Burnham said the changes were drawn up in discussions with several local massage operators and with representatives of the American Massage and Therapy Assn. in Costa Mesa. “This seems to be the best way to ensure that the massage establishment offers only massages and not additional services,” he said.

Marquetta Hungerford, a physical therapist and an association member who advised city officials on the issue, said the new requirements are “a step in the right direction.”

“What I am upset about is that cities just get fingerprints and mug shots of these people and check for any criminal record,” she said.

Hungerford suggested that applicants be tested on the medical aspects of massage, adding that she hates to hear prostitution linked with her profession.

The council action ended a 45-day moratorium on the granting of massage permits. Burnham said the number of parlors in the city has increased in the last two years to 33, with most of them in the John Wayne Airport area. Eleven people were arrested on charges relating to prostitution activity after an investigation of seven parlors last year, said police investigator John Klein.