Arcadia City Council members voted to place a 45-day moratorium on all new license applications for businesses that supply massages as a secondary service such as spas, acupuncturists and chiropractors. Arcadia will also stop issuing new licenses to massage therapists. Arcadia is overwhelmed by the surge in license applications and concerned about the possibility of prostitution. The ban could be extended for up to one year.
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.
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 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.
State officials have shut down 5 Arcadia massage parlors and fined one business $1.83 million for alleged labor code violations. Inspectors discovered that employees were not being paid hourly wages but got paid every time a massage was given. New Life Acupuncture at 610 E. Live Oak was fined $1.83 million for allegedly violating laws requiring employers to provide pay stubs and workers' compensation insurance. The four other locations fined were Ocean Health Center, C.H. Health Center, Arcadia Spa, and Best Health Center. The fines and closures continued a crackdown on massage-related businesses in Arcadia.
Massage therapists will have to pay a $265 fee to be licensed in Arcadia under a new city ordinance. A background check will be done on applicants and they will be fingerprinted.
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.
A state law scheduled to take effect in September is expected to set standards in the massage industry. Arcadia City Manager Don Penman commented that the new law may not stop people who want to commit a crime and do illegal acts. In the last few months of 2008, Arcadia shut down seven massage busineses for illegal activities.
Governor Gray Davis issued an order requiring retail businesses to reduce unnecessary outdoor lighting wattage during non-business hours. The Arcadia Police Department seeks compliance from local businesses.
Appeals court in Kentucky rejects Bob Baffert's bid to halt ban. Signage outside Baffert's barn at Santa Anita Park was removed as part of a California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) rule that mandates any trainer who is suspended for 60+ days be banned from all CHRB-licensed facilities.
Arcadia's Paramedic Membership Program continues to accept enrollments from both Arcadia residents and businesses. For $42/year ($40 if paid in lump sum), all permanent residents of a member's household or permanent employees of a business in the city will receive emergency paramedic ambulance transportation without direct cost. The subscription program was first offered to Arcadia residents and businesses on December 1, 1994.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has taken away $10 milion in funding for the Gold Line extension, but officials are determined to build it from Pasadena to Claremont.
Thomas McKernan, a 60-year-old Arcadia resident, plans to help streamline the government bureaucracies that often bog down business ventures. He is the new chairman of California Business Roundtable.
Vandals who were refused entry to a private party at the Arcadia All-Pro Athletic Club allegedly used spray paint to damage several businesses and an apartment complex on Duarte Road.
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.
Plans for a Blue Line rail depot to be built on Santa Clara St. near First Ave. disappoints city officials who hoped it would be closer to main tourist hubs.
Next month Arcadia leaders will vote on an ordinance that takes Jessica's Law further by banning sex offenders from living within 2000 feet of certain locations, in addition to schools and parks, such as golf courses, day care centers, public libraries, and swimming pools. It would also create "child safety zones," banning sex offenders from loitering within 300 feet of the locations and it would prevent more than one sex offender from living in any single residence. Pasadena is considering a similar ordinance.
Election 2022. Tallies continue for city council races in San Gabriel Valley. Semi-official results for Arcadia:
District 2--Sharon Kwan in lead with 42%, Bob Harbicht with 31%, Tracy Jensen Han with 25%.
District 3--Eileen Wang has 61%, Sheng Chang has 38%.
District 5--Dr. Michael Cao has 42%, Jason J. Lee has 33%, Michael Danielson has 21%, Daniel Malki has less than 10%.