Massage Envy is among local businesses that would be affected by Santa Barbara’s proposed new rules for the massage therapy industry.
Massage Envy is among local businesses that would be affected by Santa Barbara’s proposed new rules for the massage therapy industry. Credit: Rebecca Caraway / Noozhawk photo

Massage therapists and business owners spoke out against Santa Barbara’s proposed new industry rules at the City Council’s Ordinance Committee meeting on Tuesday. 

The proposed ordinance would lead to significant increases in permitting fees, as well as annual and unannounced inspections. It also would require therapists to get certified by the California Massage Therapy Council, which includes training for 500 hours. 

Pam Tanase, a regional developer with Massage Envy who said she was the first owner and operator of the Massage Envy in Santa Barbara, said she thought the ordinance would unfairly burden businesses and therapists.

“At this point in Santa Barbara, there are many experienced therapists who entered the profession when 250 hours was the standard, and they have completed thousands of hours of hands-on work,” Tanase said. “Requiring them to return to school for another 250 hours risks pushing skilled therapists out of the workforce.”

The Santa Barbara Police Department claims the ordinance would make it easier to crack down on any establishments using massage therapy as a front for human trafficking, prostitution or other crimes. 

“I understand the defensiveness of some thinking it’s attacking the profession, but really it’s hoping to protect them, the service providers, the establishments and staying on top of it,” Commander Brian Miller said.

“This inspection tool gives us a great tool to do that to ensure businesses are following the guidelines and regulations.”

Therapists would have to get certified by Jan. 1, 2029. In the meantime, a limited exemption certification would be available to allow for anyone not currently certified to continue working. 

With the amount of people speaking out about the ordinance, the committee, which consists of council members Kristen Sneddon, Oscar Gutierrez and Mike Jordan, continued the discussion to Jan. 13.

Phia Altman, who has been working as a massage therapist since 1981, said the school she originally went to no longer exists.

“I’m almost 67. I’m closer to retiring. I don’t really want to have to try to go back to school at this point to do what I’ve been doing since the ’80s,” Altman said.

The current annual fee for massage establishments, sole proprietors and massage therapists is $25. Under the proposed ordinance, massage establishments would pay $375 for annual permit renewal, and sole proprietors would pay $275 to renew their permit every two years. 

Sarah Lozier said that as a sole proprietor, she was unclear as to how inspections would impact her operations, and she was worried about the significant increase in permitting fees.

“I just find that to be a very large increase, and Santa Barbara is already very expensive to live in, and doing physical labor is already a lot,” Lozier said. 

Another aspect of the ordinance is that all administrative staff working at a massage establishment would have to go through a Live Scan process, meaning they would be fingerprinted and would undergo a background check. 

Police Chief Kelly Gordon explained that all massage therapists already get fingerprinted as part of the Massage Therapy Council, so they want to make sure other employees go through the same process. 

“If we’re not live scanning receptionists, you have clients who are in their most vulnerable state, often partially disrobed and in very vulnerable situations,” Gordon said.

“We want to make sure that we don’t have people working in these establishments with a history of some sort of crime such as rape or some other type of offense.” 

Advocates from 805UndocuFund and the 805 Immigrant Coalition raised concerns that inspections could lead to arrests and deportations of immigrant employees and operators. 

Gordon explained that unannounced inspections would happen on a complaint basis, which they have received recently. 

“This is not in reaction to something we haven’t seen. This is a reaction of knowing where we don’t have the tools that we need to actually do the appropriate level of enforcement,” Gordon said.