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<br />meeting held on April 22, 2008, these proposed amendments were shared with <br />interested owners and operators of massage establishments at a public meeting <br />held in City Hall. The City's Planning Commission held a duly noticed public <br />hearing on these proposed changes to the Santa Ana Municipal Code on April <br />28, 2008; after closing the public hearing and deliberating the Commission <br />unanimously continued consideration of these proposed amendments to its <br />meeting of June 23, 2008. <br /> <br />E. Without adoption of this ordinance, properties in the City would quickly receive <br />entitlements to establish massage parlors, expand existing massage parlors or <br />persons would obtain permits to operate as massage technicians, despite the <br />fact that the city council has determined that the Code is in need of updating and <br />has directed that a study be done to recommend new standards and revise the <br />Code to address concerns created by new and expanded permits for massage <br />related activities. <br /> <br />F. In all of calendar year 2006, the City received only seven applications for <br />massage related permits. <br /> <br />G. But in the month prior to the adoption of Ordinance No. NS-2744 alone, over 23 <br />individuals sought applications for massage related permits from the City. <br /> <br />H. This upswing closely followed the March 2007 raid by the Orange County District <br />Attorney and the police departments of Orange and Anaheim of ten facilities <br />(massage parlors or acupuncture clinics) in Anaheim, Orange, Tustin and Dana <br />Point as being alleged fronts for prostitution. <br /> <br />I. While some massage parlors are beneficial to the community and offer needed <br />services, others in southern California have been associated with a number of <br />detrimental impacts such as prostitution, late hours of operation, reduced <br />properly values and noise. <br /> <br />J. Chapter 22 of the Code, which regulates massage establishments and massage <br />technicians and is enforced by the Police Department, has been substantially <br />unchanged since 1976. For comparison, Anaheim, Orange and Costa Mesa <br />have all updated their massage regulations within the last four years. <br /> <br />K. If massage parlors are permitted in the City and left as currently regulated, they <br />will pose a serious threat to the public interest, health, safety and welfare for the <br />reasons stated above. <br /> <br />L. In order to prevent frustration of said studies, hearings, draft code amendments <br />and the implementation thereof, the public interest, health, safety and welfare <br />require the immediate enactment of this ordinance. The absence of this <br />ordinance would create a serious threat to the orderly and effective <br />implementation of any code amendments or general plan amendments which <br />may be adopted by the city as a result of the studies in that the establishment or <br />construction of massage parlors may be in conflict with or frustrate the <br /> <br />Ordinance No. NS-2766 <br />Page 2 of 4 <br />