Apple Valley City Council Approves Massage Therapy Licensing Ordinance

The Apple Valley City Council approved changes to the massage therapy licensing ordinance it originally passed in December by a 4-0 vote Thursday, and also approved the associated license fees for massage therapists and therapy businesses.

The ordinance is set to go into effect April 1, and massage therapists and businesses have until May 20 to file licenses. 

The ordinance, which began as an attempt to curb massage-related prostitution in Apple Valley, originally was approved in December, but the council to look at them and at the ordinance further when massage business owners and therapists expressed concerns that fees were too high and some of the ordinance provisions too rigid.

Police, city officials and business owners and massage therapists met more than once since that time to negotiate the terms of the ordinance.

“We’re very proud that this was done well in a balanced way,” Mayor Mary Hamann-Roland said.

The latest revisions to the ordinance removed the requirement for a 90-day residency before being eligible to obtain a license——exempted those giving pedicures from obtaining a license, required proof of insurance before receiving a license rather than requiring it when applying and revised the education and experience requirements for obtaining a license.

Joe Jensen, who recently opened a Massage Envy franchise in Apple Valley, said he thought some of the provisions still seemed stiff, but said he thinks the community will be better off with the ordinance than without.

“It’s certainly something we can live with,” he said.

Councilwoman Ruth Grendahl abstained from voting on the ordinance because she said there still were provisions she didn’t agree with.

She asked at the meeting about how the city would fairly verify residency, as the specific terms aren’t provided in the ordinance. City Attorney Sharon Hills said the city likely would use the same methods as are used to determine if someone can vote in Minnesota.

Revisions from December to February included exempting a massage therapy business that is solely owned and operated, with no other employees, from the business license fee. The therapist still would need the business license, however, and would need to obtain and pay the fee for the individual therapist license.

Other initial revisions included authorizing the city clerk to issue licenses to avoid needing City Council approval, revising language about requirements for covering certain parts of the body and clarifying that massage therapists could provide services outside the business in certain circumstances.

“We may be a little stricter in some areas,” Councilman Clint Hooppaw said Thursday. “I’m OK with having a little higher standards than some of our neighbors….”

The licensing fee schedule changed from December to February, decreasing the fees required for individual therapists to $100 for a new license instead of $200, and a $75 annual renewal fee instead of $100; the council approved those fees Thursday.

Fees for massage business licenses were set Thursday at the originally proposed $600 for an initial business license and $300 each year to renew. 

City Clerk Pam Gackstetter said in February that the cost to the city for licensing a massage therapist likely would be more than $200.

Apple Valley’s most recent incident allegedly involving massage storefront prostitution was with the business iMassage, which opened in October.

An Apple Valley police investigation found evidence that prostitution services allegedly were being offered at the business, and the with counts of prostitution and disorderly house.

At the Feb. 24 city council meeting, Apple Valley Police Capt. Mike Marben gave background on several occurrences of massage-related prostitution in Apple Valley beginning in 2006.

An incident last year involved a home business that opened on Garden View Drive as a massage therapy establishment, he said. The business, whose owners were from California and whose employees were from China, Marben said, was closed in October because of violating a city zoning ordinance.

Chris Fuller, who lives near that Garden View Drive site, thanked the council at Thursday’s meeting for considering passing the ordinance.

Though the ordinance and fees were approved, council members said they want to know immediately if parts of the ordinance aren’t working.

“I think this is definitely something that is dynamic,” Hamann-Roland said.