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BACKGROUND <br /> The City recently received applications for a zoning certificate for a massage <br /> establishment and Police Department massage establishment permit at 1056 Division <br /> Street, which is located within the DSP area. The property currently has an Office <br /> District zoning designation, where massage establishments with three or fewer <br /> technicians are permitted uses. Accordingly, the City Police Department and Planning <br /> Division issued massage establishment and zoning certificate approvals, respectively. <br /> However, due to the business operator failing to fulfill all of the requirements of the <br /> massage establishment permit, the permit was subject to revocation. Although a <br /> hearing was scheduled to revoke the massage establishment permit, the hearing was <br /> cancelled when the business operator voluntarily relinquished the permit. <br /> Although this particular massage business will not be established, the proposal <br /> nonetheless caused significant concern on behalf of surrounding neighbors, and raised <br /> a number of questions regarding the appropriateness of massage uses in residential <br /> areas and more generally in downtown Pleasanton. Staff is proposing an urgency <br /> ordinance that would prohibit the establishment of new massage establishments and <br /> prohibit the expansion of existing massage establishments within the DSP area, in order <br /> to allow further evaluation and possible adoption of additional regulations for massage <br /> establishments. A draft urgency ordinance (Attachment 1) and map (Exhibit A) showing <br /> the existing boundaries of the DSP area are enclosed with this report. <br /> DISCUSSION <br /> State Law <br /> California State Senate Bill 731 (Massage Therapy Act), passed in 2008, established <br /> uniform statewide regulations pertaining to massage therapy and massage <br /> establishments. More specifically, the Massage Therapy Act created the California <br /> Massage Therapy Council (CAMTC) to provide voluntary statewide certification to <br /> members of the massage profession. The Massage Therapy Act preempted most local <br /> land use, zoning and operational regulations relating to massage therapists and <br /> practitioners certified by the CAMTC and massage establishments that exclusively <br /> employed certified massage therapists and practitioners. Subsequently, the State <br /> Legislature adopted Assembly Bill No. 619 and Senate Bill No. 1238, both in 2012, <br /> which amended various provisions of the Massage Therapy Act to further limit local <br /> government authority to regulate massage. <br /> More recently, in 2014, Assembly Bill No. 1147 amended the Massage Therapy Act to <br /> expand local authority to adopt zoning regulations, business licensing, and reasonable <br /> health and safety requirements for massage establishments and practitioners. <br /> Specifically, AB 1147 allows cities to exercise broad authority to regulate massage <br /> facilities as a land use, including through a conditional use permit. The provisions of <br /> AB 1147 remained in effect only until January 1, 2017. However, Assembly Bill <br /> No. 2194 adopted in 2016 clarified and extended the requirements established by <br /> AB 1147 until January 1, 2021. <br /> Page 2 of 5 <br />