Massage Ordinance Revised

The city’s massage technicians and therapists, who for months have been at odds with some residents and officials over regulation of their business, have been invited to help put the final touches on a new ordinance governing the issue.

Technicians and their attorneys have complained that the city’s existing rules are too stringent and presume that all massage businesses are more akin to prostitution than to therapeutic services.

After nearly a year of writing and rewriting drafts, the City Council gave preliminary approval to a massage establishment ordinance. Therapists and technicians may attend a session Monday at which a council panel will fine-tune the proposal.

Under the new ordinance, the minimum number of training hours required for massage technicians would increase to 500 from 300.

For holistic health practitioners, who also provide services such as aroma therapy and tai chi instruction, the number of required training hours would increase to 1,000, up from the current 500.

Practitioners of all types would be required to pass a city test.

“I can’t wait for the Police Department to test me on hypnosis and belly dancing,” said Shirley Henderson, who has been a masseuse for 16 years in Newport Beach. “I’m concerned about the 1,000-hour test the city is proposing for holistic practitioners.”

Some massage practitioners also complained that the additional hours of formal training are not needed in an occupation where self-education is a constant and that only the schools would benefit from the new rule.

Others defended the idea of more education, however, saying that it would raise standards and protect clients.

The council panel meets at 5:30 p.m. Monday at City Hall, 3300 Newport Blvd. Information: (714) 644-3131.