A new massage establishment ordinance will go into effect in Morro Bay next month, cracking down on potential illicit activity.
“Unregulated massage establishments can be certainly solicitation, prostitution and other types of illegal activities; they can tend to be a front for human trafficking, so that was some of the concerns that our community was having that they expressed to council, which is why we’re here today,” said Chief Amy Watkins, Morro Bay Police Department.
Chief Watkins said that within the next 30 days, police will be reaching out to the city’s massage establishments for certain information.
"That we have all of the massage practitioners and their certifications through the California Massage Therapy Council (CMTC),” Watkins said.
There are currently 16 massage licenses in Morro Bay. This new ordinance would allow up to 20.
Chief Watkins adds that anyone who doesn’t have CMTC certification would be disqualified, unless they get training and become certified by 2028.
“If somebody has been practicing in Morro Bay for five plus years and is in good standing and has an equivalency to what the Massage Therapy Council requires now, they can also be grandfathered in and that just requires a background check," Watkins said.
Helena Quintanar is the owner of Morro Bay Massage Therapy and tells me two of her workers meet the CMTC requirements, and she, along with another, are massage practitioners.
“So we have the 200-hour certificate and we would need to register our information to be completely certified,” Quintanar said.
She adds that the new regulations help create a sense of safety around massage establishments since it’s common for them to get solicitations.
“We get text messages, we get calls a lot where people will say, 'Do you do full service,'" Quintanar said.
Quintanar tells me those types of calls are frequent and adds she’s glad the ordinance is rolling out.
“They’re doing something about the complaints that they’re hearing from the public, you know, and so it’s going to separate the bad actors from the good actors," Quintanar said.
The new ordinance takes effect on March 13.
