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Planning commission revokes massage use permit at Lake Forest Marketplace after two OCSD undercover investigations
Summary
City staff recommended revocation of a long-standing massage establishment use permit after undercover Orange County Sheriff's Department investigations concluded illegal activity; the commission voted unanimously to revoke the permit.
The Lake Forest Planning Commission voted on March 6 to revoke a massage-establishment use permit connected with tenancy at the Lake Forest Marketplace after staff presented police reports and code-enforcement documentation showing illicit conduct.
Jennifer Mansour summarized staff findings and recommended revocation of the use permit (identified in staff materials as 02/2003) because of documented violations of the Lake Forest Municipal Code and state law. Mansour told commissioners an undercover Orange County Sheriff's Department (OCSD) investigation at Oasis Relax in December 2022 concluded the technician's conduct constituted a violation of California Penal Code section 647(b) (prostitution). Mansour said the city notified the tenant that the conduct was disqualifying under city code and grounds for license suspension or denial.
Mansour said a subsequent tenant, operating as Ocean Pearl Spa, told staff it did not provide massage services but that staff viewed "body scrubs" as meeting the municipal definition of massage. OCSD conducted an undercover investigation at Ocean Pearl Spa in August 2024; Mansour said the investigation concluded the employee provided massage services and that OCSD found conduct constituting a 647(b) violation.
Mansour told the commission the staff report and draft resolution cite three criteria in the municipal code that support revocation: repeated violations of conditions of approval, documented illegal activity at the site and an intervening history of illicit activity that was not present when the use permit was originally issued. She noted the shopping center hosts businesses that draw children and teens and said staff found the illicit conduct "objectionable and detrimental to these uses."
Special counsel Christina Talley advised the commission during the quasi-judicial hearing; the record included 12 attachments, including letters from the prior owner of Oasis Relax and from the property owner. The prior owner, identified in staff materials as Julene Nguyen, had previously been cited.
After staff testimony and a call for public comment (none was submitted on the record), the commission moved to revoke the use permit. The motion to adopt the staff resolution revoking the permit passed unanimously with Commissioner Grable absent. The clerk's roll call recorded the motion as passing without dissent.
Authorities cited in the staff report included the Lake Forest municipal requirements for massage establishments and California Penal Code section 647(b). The staff packet noted that denial or revocation of a massage-establishment license also affects permitted uses at the tenant space for a two-year period under the municipal code.
The commission's action revokes the use permit; staff advised that the administrative record and attachments will be retained as the basis for the revocation.
