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San Francisco officials propose tighter regulation of massage businesses, citing trafficking concerns
Summary
Supervisor Katie Tang and the Department of Public Health urged restoring local land‑use control and licensing for massage establishments to close regulatory gaps that they say have enabled illicit operations; business groups, sole practitioners and the Small Business Commission pressed for exemptions and amnesty.
Supervisor Katie Tang and public‑health officials on Friday proposed a pair of city ordinances that would restore local land‑use control over massage establishments and strengthen Department of Public Health (DPH) permitting and enforcement.
At the Planning Commission hearing, Tang said recent state law (AB 1147) returned land‑use authority to cities and the two‑part package — a health‑code amendment and a planning‑code amendment — would require establishment permits from DPH even for operators who qualify for a California Massage Therapy Council (CAMTC) exemption. "Most of what we're trying to do codifies what AB 1147 did," Tang said, framing the changes as a return to local oversight enacted in 2006.
Cindy Commerford of DPH told commissioners the department regulates roughly 240 massage establishments; she said about 90 currently claim state CAMTC exemptions and that the department has found "an estimated 30 to 50% of the massage establishments are illicit," describing problems…
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