City beefs up rules for massage venues

New ordinance sets 500-foot buffer between establishments



 

 

Two women were arrested on suspicion of illicit activity during an undercover sting at local massage establishments this week.

The arrests come on the heels of a new city ordinance targeting massage venues.

On Feb. 19, the Simi Valley Police Department issued violations to Zhang Ying, a 46-year-old San Gabriel resident, and Lan Ying Fu, a 57-year-old Baldwin Park resident. Ying and Fu were masseuses at Dreamtree Massage at 2515 Royal Ave. and Empress Day Spa at 779 E. Los Angeles Ave., respectively.

Ying was arrested on suspicion of unlawful sexual contact and not having patrons fully covered, police said.

Fu was arrested on suspicion of not having patrons fully covered, unlawful sexual contact, massaging private areas and exposing her breasts. Authorities will also bring charges against the business owners.

The arrests are part of efforts to deter illicit activity at massage establishments, police said.

A week earlier, at its Feb. 12 meeting, the City Council updated a local ordinance to include a requirement that massage establishments are at least 500 feet away from each other.

This separation was not previously required.

Currently, 19 shops operate in town, with a cluster around Tapo and Cochran streets and around Los Angeles Avenue and Erringer Road. That number is down from 27 in January 2017, Simi Valley Police Cmdr. Bob Brill said.

The shopping center on Tapo Street between Cochran Street and Los Angeles Avenue has three massage establishments within 500 feet of each other; there were six at its peak.

“This new buffer zone allows the city to say there’s already established massage businesses here and reduce the level of concentration,” Brill told the Acorn. Under the extended local regulation, all new massage businesses must comply with the buffer zone, senior city planner Lorri Hammer said.

Any existing shops in clustered areas are now considered “ nonconforming,” although they can continue to operate as long as they follow all other regulations.

“Separation between establishments allows for reasonable practice of massage throughout the city while spreading police services equitably and moderately . . . and reducing the potential for collusion that has been observed,” Hammer said at the council meeting.

Since 2015, Simi Valley has licensed 32 massage establishments and 23 independent off-premise massage business owners and registered more than 200 practitioners.

Fifteen years ago, before the state stepped in to control massage establishments, Brill said, enforcement was different because illicit sexual activity, which typically happens with nonverbal exchanges, is difficult to prove.

“When the state started allowing cities to do their own ordinances, that’s when you saw the stricter enforcement happening,” the commander said. “It’s allowed our department to be more aggressive in looking at these businesses that are involved in prohibited sexual conduct.”

Despite stricter rules going into effect in 2015, police have still issued more than 200 citations to 21 establishments since January 2016 for allegations of unlicensed practitioners, failure to accurately keep records of employees and services performed, and prohibited sexual conduct.

The city seeks to eliminate illicit massage businesses while making sure the rights of legitimate businesses are not violated, Councilmember Keith Mashburn told the Simi Valley Acorn.

“The problem is the (shops) that are more of a front, that don’t keep records and don’t do what is required by law. Those are the ones we . . . just assume should leave town if they don’t want to follow the rules.”

In addition to the requirement for a 500-foot buffer, the council approved more defined terms for separately licensed practitioners, such as acupuncturists and acupressurists.

They also created a rule barring anyone who’s had their license revoked from becoming a manager at another location.

Brill said the latter is a loophole that police have been working to close for some time in an effort to keep illegal activity from starting again in another shop.