The Morro Bay City Council is considering an ordinance to regulate massage establishments, addressing concerns regarding alleged illicit activity.
On Wednesday, November 12, the council voted 5-0 to move forward with an ordinance that would establish regulations for massage parlors. One of the proposed rules would require massage establishments to close before 10 p.m.
“If you’re needing massage after 10 p.m., that would be questionable anyways,” said Zoey Chiasson, owner of Opulent Healing.
CAMTC certification or being verified by the chief of police as a grandfathered exception are some of the proposed requirements, along with agreeing to a background check, having an active licence, and following facility and operational requirements.
“I don’t necessarily see it impacting my business or any of the businesses that happen to be CAMTC certified, but if you’re working under that, then absolutely it’s going to affect your business,” Chiasson said.
Local resident Amy Chalker used to be a massage therapist and was surprised to hear that a lot of these regulations were not already in place. She shared an experience that she had at an area massage business.
She said the person who gave her the massage “was not even a massage therapist employed by the business, was not an employee, was not an independent contractor, that they were just a customer that had volunteered to help out for the day.”
Chiasson said she once accidentally set her closing time on Google to 5 a.m. instead of 5 p.m., prompting a few questionable inquiries.
“I was getting a lot of really questionable phone calls late at night wanting massage therapy and then also asking specifically what other kinds of services I may be providing," Chiasson said
The ordinance would also enforce site inspections.
Chalker said she believes the ordinance should include clear consequences..
“If there is any kind of misconduct, whether it happens at 10 p.m. at night or whether it happens at 8 a.m. in the morning, that there is a very clear chain of command of how that is handled,” she said.
During the city council meeting, councilmembers suggested guidelines for the ordinance as well, one being the number of establishments in the area and their proximity to each other.
A reading of the draft of the ordinance is scheduled for Dec. 9.
