Anaheim : Fortuneteller Ready to Open Shop in Fall

The city’s first fortunetelling business is preparing to open shop after gaining permission from the Planning Commission.

Fatima and John J. Stevens applied for a permit to open the business after the City Council May 28 repealed an ordinance that prohibited such businesses in Anaheim.

Planning Commission members last week approved a conditional use permit for the business that Fatima Stevens said will be called “Mrs. Stevens, Palm and Card Dealer,” at 1570 W. Katella Ave.

Stevens said Monday that she plans to make the house on Katella both her home and business place once her family moves from La Puente. Stevens said she travels between La Puente and Sacramento, where she has other palm- and card-reading businesses. The Anaheim location will open after October, when she plans to remodel and build an extension to the house.

Anaheim officials lifted the city’s ban after the Stevens’ threatened to take the issue to court. The couple has a case pending before the state Supreme Court against the City of Azusa, which bans fortunetelling.

Anaheim is one of several Orange County cities that has repealed such ordinances.

San Juan Capistrano earlier this year repealed an ordinance banning fortunetelling after a state Court of Appeal decision declared the Azusa ban unconstitutional. Huntington Beach officials in June partially lifted a similar ban and now allow such businesses in Old World and other shopping centers. Cypress City Council members in June extended a moratorium on new fortunetelling businesses until the outcome of the Supreme Court decision.