The City Council last night approved urgency ordinances establishing separation requirements on massage establishments and making several revisions to the city's codes governing massage services.
The four-ordinance package includes two ordinances that will take effect immediately, increasing the separation standards for massage establishments subject to the City's conditional use permit procedure and making other procedural changes. Two other ordinances in the package are identical in scope but will, if approved on second reading at the next City Council meeting, take effect 30 days after approval.
Council members heard more than an hour of testimony concerning the ordinance from massage therapists and business owners. While thanking the business owners and therapists who came out to testify, the Council ultimately concluded that additional standards were required to protect the public health and safety in a city that has an unusually high concentration of massage establishments. To see a copy of the ordinances, click on the links below:
In other business, the Council:
- Approved construction contracts for the next phase of Del Mar Avenue rehabilitation.
- Approved the award of construction for streets in the 2016 CDBG street construction project.
- Accepted a grant for Vincent Lugo Park improvements.
- Approved a new joint use agreement program with the San Gabriel Unified School District for shared use of certain school and park facilities.
- Approved a historic designation and Mills Act (historic preservation) contract for property at 400 E. Hermosa Drive.