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BACKGROUND The City has regulated massage establishments and massage therapists for many years. In general, the Pleasanton Municipal Code provides that anyone who administers massage for compensation must hold a permit from the Police Department in addition to satisfying other requirements, such as zoning compliance and payment of business license taxes. Because the ordinance has not been revised for over ten years, and due to changes in the practice of massage, the City Attorney's Office, Police Department, Code Enforcement, Business License, and Planning have been working with the massage community to update the Massage Ordinance to address various concerns and circumstances that have arisen. Although the ordinance proposed amends Pleasanton Municipal Code Chapter 6.24 in its entirety, the ordinance's purpose and intent and many of its basic requirements remain unchanged. A red-lined version of the proposed ordinance showing deletions, insertions and amendments is not being provided because it would be confusing and cluttered. Unless otherwise noted, all statutory references are to the Pleasanton Municipal Code (PMC). Notices of this meeting and proposed amendments were mailed to massage establishment and massage technician permittees and other interested persons at least ten days prior to this hearing. DISCUSSION This report reviews the proposed ordinance's principal substantive revisions to the current PMC chapter regulating massage. Definition of Massage and Acupressure: Many healing arts and other methods of applications of touch, pressure, and movement fall under the current ordinance's definition of massage. The ordinance proposed amends the definition of "massage" to delete the term "treatment" because massage therapists may not treat (or diagnose or prescribe) medical conditions. The ordinance proposed also amends the definition by adding the term "acupressure" because this healing art fits the definition of "massage", but it is not expressly included in the definition, and acupressure is not regulated by the State. This amendment will clarify that individuals administering acupressure to the public must hold a permit from the City. (6.24.020(D), definition of "massage".) Offsite Massages: Offsite massages are massages given by persons who hold massage establishment or massage technician permits but give massages at locations that do not have massage establishment permits. For example, a business may wish to have a massage technician provide massage to its employees once a week. If the massage technician has an offsite permit, the individual would be permitted to provide massages to the employees at the business. Offsite massages, however, would not be allowed at a permittee's residence. The proposed ordinance provides for offsite massages by including a definition of "offsite massage" (6.24.020(H), requiring an offsite massage permit (6.24.030(C)), providing an application process (6.24.080), and by Page 2 of 8