No license to conduct a massage establishment shall be granted unless the facility complies with applicable land use, building code, and zoning requirements for a professional or personal service business at that location. In addition, the facility shall meet the following requirements:
(a) A recognizable and legible sign complying with Division 1 (commencing with Section 51.101) of this Code shall be posted at the main entrance identifying the premises as a massage establishment.
(b) A light level of no less than five (5) foot-candles at any point within the room shall be maintained in each room or enclosure where massage services are performed on patrons.
(c) Any dressing, locker and toilet facilities that are provided shall meet these requirements:
(1) In steam rooms and rooms containing tubs or showers, a waterproof floor covering shall be provided which extends up the walls at least six inches and shall be coved at the floor-wall juncture with at least a 3/8 inch radius. Toilet rooms shall be of similar construction.
(2) Walls of toilet and bathing facilities shall be smooth, waterproof and kept in good repair.
(d) Cabinets shall be provided for the storage of clean linen. Approved containers shall be provided for the storage of all soiled linen.
(e) Minimum ventilation shall be provided in accordance with the Building Code of the County of San Diego. To allow for adequate ventilation in cubicles, rooms and areas provided for patron's use, which are not serviced directly by required window or mechanical systems of ventilation, partitions shall be constructed so that the height of partitions does not exceed seventy-five percent (75%) of the floor-to-ceiling height of the area in which they are located.
(f) All plumbing and electrical installations shall be installed under permit and inspected by the Department of Planning and Development Services Building Inspection and such installations shall be installed in accordance with the Uniform Building Code and the Uniform Plumbing Code.
(g) All walls, ceilings, floors, pools, showers, bathtubs, steam rooms, and all other physical facilities for 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, and toilet rooms, shall be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected each day the business is in operation. Bathtubs shall be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected after each use.
(h) Towels, linens, and sheets of all types and items for personal use of operators and patrons shall be clean and freshly laundered. Towels, linens, and sheets shall not be used for more than one person. Reuse of such linen is prohibited unless the same has been first laundered. Common use of towels or linens is prohibited. 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.
(i) All lavatories or wash basins shall be provided with hot and cold running water, soap and single service towels in wall mounted dispensers.
(j) Disinfecting agents and sterilizing equipment shall be provided for any instruments used in performing acts of massage. The disinfectant agents used shall be an EPA-registered disinfectant with demonstrated bactericidal, fungicidal, and viricidal activity, used according to manufacturer's instructions.
(k) Pads used on massage tables shall be covered in a workmanlike manner with durable washable plastic or other acceptable waterproof material.
(l) No exterior entrance to the massage establishment which is regularly used by the public for ingress or egress to such establishment shall be locked during business hours, unless all clients and staff are behind closed doors and no staff are available to assure security for those clients and staff.
(m) All unoccupied rooms and areas of a massage establishment shall be subject to reasonable inspection during hours of the business operation.
(n) A list of services available and the cost of such services shall be posted in an open and conspicuous public place on the premises. The services shall be described in readily understandable language. No owner, operator, responsible managing employee, manager, or permittee in charge of, or in control of the massage establishment, shall permit, and no massage therapist shall offer to perform any services other than those posted.
(o) With the exception of bathrooms, showers and dressing rooms, no owner, operator, responsible managing employee, manager, or permittee in charge of or in control of any massage establishment shall permit any person in any area within the massage establishment which is used by the patrons or which can be viewed by patrons from such an area, unless the person's specified anatomical areas are fully covered.
(p) No owner, operator, responsible managing employee, manager or permittee in charge of or in control of a massage establishment shall during the course of any service or task associated with the operation of a massage operation permit any person to massage, or intentionally touch the specified anatomical areas of another person.
(q) No owners, operator, responsible managing employee, manager or permittee in charge of or in control of a massage establishment shall permit any massage therapist to be on the premises of a massage establishment during its hours of operation while performing or available to perform any task or service associated with the operation of a massage business, unless the massage therapist is fully covered from a point not to exceed four (4) inches above the center of the kneecap to the base of the neck, excluding the arms, with the following exception: shorts may be worn so long as they extend down the leg a minimum of three (3) inches from the crotch and the body above that point is fully covered to the base of the neck, excluding the arms. The covering, which includes trousers, pants or shorts, will be of an opaque material and will be maintained in a clean and sanitary condition.
(r) A current list of the individuals providing massage services in the massage establishment, and evidence of the organization-issued certificates or transitional massage technician licenses held by those individuals shall be maintained at the massage establishment at all times and shall be made immediately available to the Sheriff for inspection upon request.
(Amended by Ord. No. 7428 (N.S.), effective 2-4-88; amended by Ord. No. 8477 (N.S.), adopted 11-8-94, operative 1-1-95; amended by Ord. No. 10102 (N.S.), effective 1-7-11; amended by Ord. No. 10224 (N.S.), effective 10-25-12; amended by Ord. No. 10642 (N.S.), effective 1-10-20)
Cross reference(s)--Sewers and sewage disposal plants, § 68.101 et seq.; management of solid waste, § 68.501 et seq.