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Lincoln council adopts stricter massage‑parlor rules to align with neighboring city
Summary
After a public hearing the City Council voted unanimously to repeal and reenact the massage‑parlor code to add licensure, facility standards, annual permits and enforcement tools to mirror a neighboring jurisdiction’s ordinance and aid joint policing.
The City Council on Jan. 28 adopted an ordinance intended to tighten regulation of massage businesses and out‑call services, adding annual permits, facility standards and criminal and civil remedies to aid enforcement.
City attorney Christine Mollinkoff told the council the Lincoln Police Department had asked for the changes and the proposed language was developed to parallel rules used by nearby Rockland so officers could work across jurisdictions with consistent authority. “Law enforcement reports that massage parlors…tend to be…attendant to criminal activities,” Mollinkoff said during the public hearing. She described the rewrite as updating an ordinance first adopted in 1998 and last revised in 2013.
Key provisions in the new ordinance (Ordinance 1086b) include annual massage permits, background information and licensing requirements for applicants, a requirement that therapists be licensed by the California Massage Therapy Council (CMT), limits on out‑call services, standards for changing rooms and sanitation, and a prohibition on beds and floor mattresses in massage facilities. The ordinance also tightens the city’s ability to deny, suspend or revoke permits and establishes appeal procedures. Violations may be prosecuted as misdemeanors and civil injunctive remedies are available.
One neighborhood speaker who identified herself as a volunteer with anti‑trafficking efforts supported the changes during the public comment period, saying the proposal addresses concerns about human trafficking and illegal activity often tied to disreputable establishments. No speaker came forward to oppose the ordinance at the hearing.
Council members asked about implementation details such as fees and inspections. Mollinkoff said any permit fee would be set through the city’s master fee schedule and that code enforcement and police could conduct inspections; existing businesses would be required to comply at renewal or could be inspected earlier. The council voted to waive first reading and adopt the ordinance by title.
