All hot tub/sauna establishments shall comply with the following facilities and operations requirements and each of the requirements listed in this section shall be conditions of any hot tub/sauna establishment license which is issued pursuant to the requirements of this chapter:
(a) Hot tub/sauna establishments shall comply with all applicable provisions of this code and with all applicable health and sanitation laws, rules and regulations of the county of Santa Clara and state of California.
(b) Toilet and lavatory facilities shall be provided for employees and patrons of a hot tub/sauna establishment in a number and type not less than the minimum number and type specified in the applicable code section for such type of use.
(c) A manager or other supervisory representative of the licensee shall be and remain on the premises of the licensed hot tub/sauna establishment at all times during the operating hours of the establishment. The licensee shall furnish the chief of police with a list of all persons authorized by licensee to act as manager or representative of the licensee. Any change in said list shall be reported to the chief of police immediately.
(d) All suites and rooms within hot tub/sauna establishments, for the use of patrons, shall be provided with clean laundered sheets, towels and linens in sufficient quantities which shall be laundered between consecutive uses thereof and stored in an approved sanitary manner. The same sheets, towels and linens shall not be used in excess of one rental period. No sheets, towels or linens shall be laundered or dried in any hot tub/sauna establishment unless such establishment is provided with approved laundry facilities comparable to commercial laundering facilities, for such laundering and drying. Approved receptacles shall be provided for the storage of soiled sheets, linens, and towels. Heavy white paper may be substituted for sheets; provided that such paper is used once for each person and then discarded into a sanitary receptacle.
(e) All walls, ceilings, floors, pools, showers, bathtubs, hot tubs, jacuzzis, saunas, steam rooms, and all other physical facilities within the establishment must be in good repair and maintained in a clean and sanitary condition. Wet and dry heat rooms, steam or vapor rooms, or steam or vapor cabinets, shower compartments, bathrooms, toilet rooms, saunas, jacuzzis, hot tubs, and individual suites shall be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected each day the business is in operation. Bathtubs (not including hot tubs) shall be cleaned and thoroughly disinfected after each use. Not more than one hot tub or similar water-holding device shall be operated from the same heating or filtering device or any similar mechanism unless each such hot tub or other similar device is capable of being emptied and refilled independent of any other hot tub.
(f) The walls in all rooms where water or steam baths are given shall have a washable, mold-resistant surface.
(g) All lavatories or wash basins shall be provided with hot and cold running water, soap and single-service towels in wall-mounted dispensers.
(h) Cabinets or other covered space shall be provided for the storage of clean linen.
(i) To protect patrons from potential health and sanitary hazards, all hot tub/sauna establishment employees shall be clean and shall perform all services on the premises in full, clean outer garments.
(j) Security deposit facilities capable of being locked by the patron or a waterproof security bag that may be carried by the patron shall be available for the protection of the valuables of the patron.
(k) Each service or facility offered, the price thereof, and the minimum length of time such service shall be performed shall be posted in a conspicuous public location within the hot tub/sauna establishment. If the hot tub/sauna establishment contains within it one or more individual rooms or suites, the hourly rental rate for such individual rooms or suites shall also be posted in a conspicuous public location, along with the minimum and maximum periods of time such individual rooms or suites can be rented. All letters and numbers shall be capitals, and not less than one-half inch in height.
(l) No mirrors of any type shall be placed at any location within or inside the hot tub/sauna establishment unless the approval of the chief of police has first been obtained; provided, however, that if the hot tub/sauna establishment is comprised of one or more individual rooms or suites, a small mirror, not more than three square feet in size, may be placed on the interior of such room or suite on the door leading from such individual room or suite into any interior hallway within such establishment, or such other comparable location not visible from the exterior of such individual room or suite when the door thereto is open as may be approved by the chief of police.
(m) If the hot tub/sauna establishment is comprised of one or more individual rooms or suites which are rented to patrons, the interior of any such individual room or suite shall not be visible from any point outside the room or suite when the door leading from such individual room or suite into any interior hallway is closed.
(n) No alcoholic beverages of any type shall be permitted to be brought into or consumed within or upon the premises or property of any hot tub/sauna establishment.
(o) No nudity shall be permitted or allowed to occur in any interior hallways of the establishment, or in any other open patron area or areas located within the hot tub/sauna establishment. Nudity shall only be permitted or allowed within the confines of an individual room or suite located within the establishment and then only by the patrons who have rented such room or suite.
(p) No individual under the age of eighteen years shall be allowed to enter into or to remain upon or within the premises of any hot tub/sauna establishment unless such individual is accompanied by his or her parent or guardian.
(q) All hot tub/sauna establishment employees, while on duty:
(1) Shall remain fully clothed at all times;
(2) Shall not remain inside any of the individual rooms or suites with any patrons of the establishment while the doors leading to the hallways from such rooms or suites are closed. Said doors shall remain closed at all times during which the individual room or suite is occupied and utilized by any patron;
(3) Shall not perform, for compensation or otherwise, any type of personal services for the patrons of the establishment, which personal services consist of the touching of any part of the body of a patron with any part of the employee's body, or any implement utilized by an employee.
(r) (1) Hot tub/sauna establishments shall close and remain closed from eleven p.m. to nine a.m.
(2) After one year of operation, a hot tub/sauna establishment may be exempted from the hours restrictions of this section by the chief of police upon a written request which details the factual reasons supporting good cause for the exemption. The chief of police, in determining what constitutes good cause for this exemption from the hours restrictions, shall consider and weight the following factors:
(A) The criteria outlined in Section 4.04.140 of Chapter 4.04;
(B) The criteria outlined in Section 4.56.030 of this chapter;
(C) The impact which the hot tub/sauna establishment has had on the health, safety, and welfare of the local community, including, but not limited to, parking and traffic congestion;
(D) The hot tub/sauna establishment's compliance or noncompliance with all federal, state, and local laws, including, but not limited to, this municipal code.
If, upon review of these factors, the chief of police determines that good cause does exist for the requested exemption, the chief may then exempt the particular hot tub/sauna establishment from the hours restrictions of this section. However, in no event shall any hot tub/sauna establishment close later than two a.m. nor open earlier than six a.m.
(3) The exemption from the hours restrictions of this section shall be subject to review and renewal annually at the same time as the renewal of the underlying license and the same factual showing shall be made as that required for the initial exemption. The chief shall not grant an hours exemption unless said establishment has maintained the criteria specified in Section 4.56.100(r)(2).
(s) No hot tub/sauna establishment shall be allowed in the following locations:
(1) Within two hundred fifty feet of the exterior property limits of any public or private elementary school, junior high school or high school;
(2) Within two hundred fifty feet of the exterior limits of any district where residential use is the principal permitted use, including all R and RM districts, O-S districts, and any P-C or P-F districts where the principal use permitted or maintained is residential; or
(3) Within twelve hundred feet of the exterior property limits of any other premises lawfully occupied by a hot tub/sauna establishment or by any establishment subject to the provisions of Chapters 4.54 or 4.55, or any cardroom licensed pursuant to Chapter 4.52. Notwithstanding the provisions of this subdivision, subject to all other provisions of this chapter, a hot tub/sauna establishment license may be issued for an establishment located within twelve hundred feet of another hot tub/sauna establishment, an establishment subject to the provisions of Chapters 4.54 or 4.55, or any cardroom licensed pursuant to Chapter 4.52 if the applicant has obtained, and has in effect, a valid conditional use permit pursuant to Chapter 18.76 (Permits and Approvals). Application for a license under this chapter shall be made and processed prior to an application for a use permit. In the event it is determined that a license under this chapter would be issued for the provisions of this subdivision, the application for a use permit shall then be processed. A license under this chapter shall not be issued until completion of the use permit application process. In the case of such an application, the time limit for action on a hot tub/sauna establishment license application contained in Section 4.56.050 shall be automatically extended as necessary to follow processing of the use permit application. For the purpose of determining compliance with standard (3), as to, between and with respect to establishments lawfully in operation on the effective date of this section, priority between such existing establishments shall be assigned in accordance with the dates upon which said establishments commenced such lawful operations. In the event any dispute arises regarding said dates, the applicant shall have the obligation to establish the date on which he commenced lawful operation.
Any hot tub/sauna establishment lawfully in operation on the effective date of this section shall, within sixty days of said date apply to the chief of police for a determination as to compliance with the provisions of this section. Said application shall be in such form as prescribed by the chief of police.
Any hot tub/sauna establishment legally existing on the effective date of this subsection and which is not in compliance with the provisions of this subsection shall comply with said provisions within three years of the effective date of this subsection; provided, however, that any such establishment which intends to in any way transfer ownership or alter or change the nature of any such hot tub/sauna establishment on or after the effective date of this subsection shall comply with the provisions of this subsection prior to such transfer, alteration or change. Any such use which at the expiration of said period is not in compliance with the provisions of this subsection shall at that time discontinue and abate its operation.
Any hot tub/sauna establishment lawfully in operation upon the effective date of this subsection failing to comply with the provisions of this subsection shall be issued a limited-term license containing a statement on its face reciting such noncompliance and the date by which compliance must be accomplished, and that said license shall not be renewed beyond said date.
All distances referred to in this subsection shall be measured between the closest points on the exterior property lines or area boundaries of the parcels or areas involved, except that when a hot tub/sauna establishment subject to the provisions of this section occupies one unit of a multi-unit structure located on a single parcel, distances shall be measured from the exterior boundaries of the unit so occupied.
(Ord. 4826 § 3, 2004: Ord. 3592 § 2, 1985: Ord. 3113 § 1 (part), 1979)