A. Massage establishment. It is unlawful for any person to own, operate or maintain a massage establishment unless all massage technicians employed by the massage establishment hold a current, valid certification from the CAMTC as a massage practitioner or massage therapist or qualify under the limited exceptions described in this chapter.
B. Massage technician. It is unlawful for any person to engage in, or carry on, the business or activities of a massage technician without a certification from the CAMTC as a massage practitioner or massage therapist or qualify under the limited exceptions described in this chapter.
C. Out-call massage service. It is unlawful for any person to own, operate, or maintain, an off-premise massage service in the city unless all massage technicians employed by the off-premises massage service hold a current, valid certification from the CAMTC as a certified massage practitioner or certified massage therapist or qualify under the limited exceptions described in this chapter.
D. The city recognizes that some massage therapists and massage practitioners currently practicing in Visalia may not meet the current requirements set forth by the CAMTC due to changes in educational or other requirements particularly changes in requirements concerning hours of schooling although the person has been in practice for a significant period. The city will therefore allow such persons that were working within Visalia prior to the passage of this chapter under this "grandfather exception" without certification from the CAMTC if the requirements stated below are met.
The person seeking this exemption must show to the satisfaction of the city police department that he or she worked as a massage therapist or massage practitioner in the city prior to July 1, 2012, which is after the effective date of this chapter. The person must also provide evidence to the city that he or she has certification or proof of training in the field from a school or another entity comparable to the CAMTC and has been working as a massage therapist or massage practitioner for a period of at least five (5) years. Finally, the person must provide evidence that they attempted to obtain certification from the CAMTC but were denied and provide the reasons for the denial to show despite their existing training and experience they were not able to qualify for certification from CAMTC.
Persons that are granted an exemption from the CAMTC certification requirement by the city will still be required to meet all other terms of this chapter including but not limited to the background check required of massage establishment owners that are not certified by the CAMTC. All persons under this exemption will be required to display, in the same manner this chapter requires the display of CAMTC certification, a separate statement from the city to show that the person has met the requirements of this exemption. This exemption must be renewed annually and the city may establish a non-refundable fee to recover costs associated with such annual renewals.
(Ord. 2012-05 § 2 (part), 2012)