The Massage Therapist Regulations ordinance, approved November 5 by City Council, places regulations on the licensing of massage therapists and the activities of businesses offering massage services. It regulates business hours, uniforms, customers' bodily coverings and suggestive ads.
The City is going to enforce ordinance on false burglar alarms with a $100 fine for the fourth and fifth false alarms in a 1-year period and $200 for each one after that.
Los Angeles County is having second thoughts about the newly changed name for the Arboretum. The official name is Los Angeles County Botanic Gardens and Arboretum, but now LA County will seek the feedback of interested residents and organizations to decide on the official name.
The Arcadia City Council has approved an ordinance specifically laying out the responsibilities of property owners to assist in the maintenance of street trees.
Arcadia city council will vote on an ordinance prohibiting loitering by members of street gangs. The ordinance defines a "criminal street gang" as three or more people with a primary activity to commit offenses, such as murder, assault, robbery, or drug-related crimes. There are eight active Asian gangs within the city.
About 95% of the more than 2,700 security alarms the Arcadia Police Department responded to last year turned out to be false alarms. Arcadia police Chief Bob Sanderson is asking the City Council to implement a $100 fine for a third false alarm issued in a 365-day period. A $200 fine for the fourth false alarm and $300 for the fifth and all subsequent false alarms would be part of the new ordinance that City Council will consider next month.
Dog owners could be fined up to $1,000 and their pet impounded or destroyed under an ordinance the City Council introduced to protect residents from dangerous or vicious dogs.
Arcadia establishments that serve food will be required to post the health grades they receive from the county under a new ordinance adopted by the City Council.
Arcadia City Council adjusts an ordinance pertaining to massage therapists. The ordinance originally required 500 hours of training for a massage therapist to have a license in the city. The council decided to let currently employed therapists substitute on the job hours for any shortage in training under 500 hours. The Council also dropped a requirement for windows in rooms where therapy is provided and decided therapists will not be required to wear white. The therapist will be required to have an identification card in his/her possession but will not be required to display it.
The City Council gave a first reading to an ordinance that would allow the FrontRunner restaurant at Santa Anita Park race track to be open year round instead of just during the race season.
Arcadia City officials plan to update the city's sign ordinance to prohibit certain types of signs, but merchants are concerned the proposed rules will hurt their business or be expensive.
The Arcadia City Council will decide on an ordinance to regulate massage therapy. Provisions will regulate massage therapists, practitioners or technicians, and require them to have identification cards from the police and a business license. The ordinance contains other restrictions.
The Arcadia City Council voted unanimously to impose a 45-day moratorium on medical marijuana dispensaries, known as pot clubs. There are no such dispensaries in the city nor have there been any applications. The moratorium will give the city time to study the issue and see what type of regulation would be appropriate to put in place in Arcadia. The concern is that pot clubs could draw an element to the community that increases crime. The Compassionate Use Act (Proposition 215) legalized medical marijuana in California in 1996.