NEWPORT BEACH : City to Discuss New Massage Shop Rules

Within weeks of approving a new, hard-hitting massage shop ordinance, which regulates where those businesses can operate in Newport Beach, the City Council tonight will discuss new rules governing shop owners and employees.

The proposed changes are to be discussed as part of the city’s plan to better regulate those shops and prevent them from being fronts for prostitution.

The new rules would put more responsibility for shop operations on workers, require more background information on the company seeking a massage permit and establish further guidelines for revoking those permits.

For example, managers, not just owners, will be responsible for shop operations when the owners are not on the premises.

Also, the changes would require that additional company information be provided to obtain a permit, such as names of company directors and stockholders, and employment history of the shop operator and the massage technicians.

Further, the property owner would need to acknowledge that a massage shop will be operated on the land. And the changes would set up specific procedures for denying and revoking massage shop permits.

A plan to require shops to offer showers for clients was not included in the proposed new regulations. A number of shop operators argued that showers would be difficult to construct and would be a financial hardship to the smaller businesses.

The city reports that the proposed changes are needed to complete the package of regulations that include the city’s recently approved location rules. Those prohibit massage shops in residential neighborhoods and near churches, schools and community centers.

A city staff report states that since 1990 the number of massage shop technicians has increased nearly twofold from 108 to 205 in the city.

This jump comes as the number of shops has similarly risen, giving Newport Beach 43 shops, which is the most of any city in Orange County.

Last year, the city put a moratorium on new shops because the Police Department estimated that about half the shops were fronts for prostitution. It was repealed last month when the city adopted new site regulations.

However, the far-reaching, specific changes in operation procedures are still in rough-draft stage, and the city staff has said it would like to continue working with owners to further develop amendments to the existing ordinance.