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Downtown Specific Plan Update, Municipal Code, and Massage Establishments Under the current DSP, areas designated as Office and Downtown Commercial incorporate the permitted and conditional land uses allowed in the corresponding Office (0) and Central-Commercial (C-C) Districts of the Pleasanton Municipal Code (PMC), respectively. In the PMC, massage establishments with three or fewer technicians at any one time are a permitted use in the following zoning districts: Neighborhood Commercial (C-N); Central Commercial (C-C); Regional Commercial (C-R); and Office (0). Massage establishments that have four or more technicians at any one time, and that are not in conjunction with a medical use, are subject to a Minor Conditional Use Permit in the districts previously mentioned. Therefore, massage establishments with three or fewer technicians are permitted in the commercial areas along and around Main Street. Based on City records, twenty-four (24) massage establishments are located in Downtown Pleasanton, out of a total of sixty-six (66)1 city-wide. In addition to regulations for land use and zoning, massage establishments are subject to the requirements of PMC Chapter 6.24, which includes a number of detailed and specific requirements for the licensing of massage technicians, operation of massage businesses and related public health and safety considerations.2 As part of the effort underway to update the DSP, the City Council-appointed DSP Update Task Force has discussed topics including the most desirable mix of land uses, including the ground floor uses along Main Street that encourage pedestrian activity. The Task Force has expressed support for an Active Ground Floor Overlay area that would require active uses on the ground floor of tenant spaces fronting Main Street. The definition for "active uses" as currently drafted excludes personal services, such as massage establishments and hair/nail salons, meaning that upon adoption of the DSP, massage establishments and other personal services would not be allowed on the ground floor of tenant spaces fronting Main Street. Urgency Ordinance State law3 authorizes a city to adopt, as an urgency measure, an urgency ordinance prohibiting specific uses that may conflict with a general plan, specific plan, and/or zoning proposal that the city is considering, without following procedures otherwise required for adoption of a zoning ordinance. Staff is proposing the subject urgency measure since the DSP Update is underway, and with it, consideration of the mix of desirable land uses in downtown Pleasanton. As noted, there is a concentration of massage establishments located downtown, and, since establishments with fewer than four technicians are considered permitted uses, there is limited discretion for the City to disallow such smaller new massage businesses The total count of 66 includes five massage establishments that provide massages"offsite"(e.g., at Oracle or Workday), and several that provide massage services as part of a chiropractic office. 2 While the vast majority of massage establishments operate within the law, many cities, including Pleasanton,have recognized the possible incidence and risk of illicit activities occurring under the guise of legitimate massage businesses, and as a result, choose to regulate these uses more stringently than other types of personal service uses. See Government Code §65858. Page 3 of 5