Orange officials are extending their moratorium on allowing new massage parlors to set up shop in the city for nearly two years amid allegations that the businesses are hot beds for prostitution and illicit sexual activity.
Beyond the alleged sexual activity, code enforcement officers say they’ve found parlors where people are living there illegally.
Officials also say some places have no certified massage therapists, along with unpermitted construction of showers, unsafe electrical, gas and plumbing systems and serve liquor without a license.
At the end of June, Orange City Council members voted unanimously at a special meeting to stretch out their 45-day temporary ban on allowing new massage establishments for another 22 months and 15 days as city staff work to tighten regulations on the parlors.
“We need a strong new ordinance. We need to put a line in the sand very clearly,” said Carolyn Cavecche, former Orange Mayor, during public comment at the June 29 special meeting.
“It’s going to be difficult to get this cat back in the bag now that it has been unleashed, but I’m trusting we’re going to be able to do it. There should be zero tolerance for this again.”
Orange officials first implemented the ban on the new parlors in May with little discussion after code enforcement officers warned them establishments offering illegal sexual activity pose a health and safety risk to residents.
“Among other things, these impacts include the potential for: (1) injury and abuse to patrons being solicited for unlawful services, and (2) increased opportunities for prostitution activity and human trafficking of workers by virtue of the secretive nature associated with offering unauthorized and undisclosed services,” reads a May staff report.
The ban also came after Orange Police Officers raided the OC Wellness Center on North Tustin Street – where many of the businesses are concentrated – in April following a months-long investigation into complaints of drug dealing and possible human trafficking.
“Orange PD, with assistance from @anaheimpd, executed a search warrant in the evening hours, securing the business and detaining multiple individuals,” reads an Instagram post from the Police department
“The business was found to be operating as a front for unlawful activity, leading to its immediate shutdown for multiple violations.”
Since the ban, city staff say they’ve been reviewing their own regulations on massage parlors and those of other cities, code enforcement plans to participate at regional training focused on elicit massage parlors and evaluating ways to better manage the location of these parlors.
According to the city’s business license portal, there are about 90 massage establishments in Orange.
Police and code enforcement officers say they have identified over 20 businesses that violated regulations including not having proper state licenses or certified massage therapists and suspected illegal sexual activity occurring within the shop.
At the June 29 meeting, Code Compliance Manager Rafael Perez said their overhaul of the regulations will focus on giving officers the resources they need to crack down on problematic shops.
“That’s part of the regulation reviews to look at the associated uses with legitimate operators and kind of create a system where we don’t indirectly affect those types of professional high-end business operators, while giving us the tools to be able to effectively address the problematic ones.”
Hosam Elattar is a Voice of OC reporter. Contact him at helattar@voiceofoc.org.
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