Sacramento County updates massage business rules, tightens distance rules and adds camera, certification requirements

The Sacramento County Board of Supervisors on Dec. 10 introduced changes to the county's massage-establishment ordinance and approved related zoning amendments aimed at limiting illicit activity tied to some massage businesses while preserving pathways for compliant providers.

The ordinance text forwarded by staff and accepted by the board would require new massage providers to hold certification from the California Massage Therapy Council (CAMTC), tighten distance-separation rules for establishments and permit a single fixed interior security camera aimed at reception areas. The board also approved a zoning-code amendment that creates a limited path for sole practitioners to operate in business-professional (BP) zones in small spaces.

Those changes come after months of outreach between county finance, business licensing, planning staff and local providers and follow a Planning Commission recommendation to approve the zoning updates with some conditions. County staff said the changes respond to a continued, measurable problem: "We have had 33 revocations of massage licenses over the past two years," Finance Director Chad Rindy told the board, using county business-licensing records to justify tighter rules.

Most important changes - Certification: New providers would have to be CAMTC-certified; existing county-licensed providers who lack CAMTC certification would be allowed to continue as…