Laguna Hills Allows Fortune-Telling for Pay

Fortune-telling businesses will be allowed in the city, following the adoption of an ordinance by the City Council.

The council voted 4 to 1 Tuesday for the new ordinance, with Councilman Randal J. Bressette dissenting.

Previously, the city prohibited fortune-telling for pay under a county zoning code the city adopted when it incorporated in 1991. Such a ban was ruled unconstitutional by the California Supreme Court in 1985 but had not been changed on the county’s books.

The new ordinance, which will allow fortune-telling businesses to operate in three specific commercially zoned areas, is based on similar regulations of cities in Los Angeles and Orange counties, including Tustin and Irvine. Those zones are called “commercial regional,” “commercial community” and “commercial highway.”

The new ordinance also requires commercial fortune-tellers to acquire permits each year by submitting applications with their personal, criminal and fortune-telling histories.

The applications would be subject to the review and approval of the police chief, who would also conduct an independent investigation of the applicant.

Bressette objected to the ordinance because it did not adequately protect the public from the businesses, which he said have acquired unseemly reputations. His attempts to require applicants to post a bond and provide more information on previous fortune-telling violations failed to gain support from other council members.

“I am very troubled by this but . . . every concern I have seems to reach a dead end,” Bressette said.

Responded City Atty. Lois E. Jeffrey: “We feel that this particular ordinance, as it is worded, gives adequate protection to the public” without infringing on a commercial fortune-teller’s constitutional rights.