Palo Alto committee backs ordinance aligning massage businesses with state rules, shifts permitting to owners

The Policy and Services Committee voted Oct. 29 to recommend that the City Council consider amendments to Title 4 of the Palo Alto Municipal Code that would strengthen oversight of commercial massage establishments and simplify hot tub sauna permitting.

Eric Jensen, senior management analyst for the Police Department, told the committee the city's massage regulations have not been significantly updated since 2012 and the proposed changes would align local rules with "updated state standards and current best practices." Jensen said the proposal would classify regulated activity into three categories: massage establishments (owners), massage professionals, and hot tub saunas.

The revisions would require an enhanced annual permit for establishments that includes verification of ownership changes and…