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CITY OF NORTH OLMSTED ORDINANCE NO. 2014 - 99 BY: Mayor Kennedy AN ORDINANCE ESTABLISHING A NEW AND REVISED CHAPTER 749 OF THE BUSINESS REGULATION CODE ENTITLED "MASSAGE ESTABLISHMENTS" IN ORDER TO UPDATE REGULATIONS, LIMIT HOURS OF OPERATION, AND TO CLARIFY EXEMPTION FOR PROFESSIONALS LICENSED BY THE STATE OF OHIO, AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY, AS AMENDED. WHEREAS, according to the State Medical Board of Ohio, Ohio was the first state to license the practice of massage and the first applicant was licensed in 1916. Massage therapy is thus treated and described as the limited practice of medicine and is subject to comprehensive regulatory and licensing systems by R.C. 4731.15 and O.A.C. 4731 -1 -05; and WHEREAS, state licensing and regulation of massage therapists does not govern the practice of so- called recreational massage, which business activities remain subject to local licensing laws currently outlined by Chapter 749, as these regulations may be updated and amended herein, and which do not conflict with state law; and WHEREAS, studies have shown that so- called recreational massage parlors tend to have a negative impact on the health, safety and general welfare of the community, including illegal activities such as prostitution, human trafficking, and other violations of law that may be deterred by rigorous regulatory standards. See Priscila A. Rocha, Note, Our Backard Slave Trade: The Result of Ohio's Failure to Enact Comprehensive State -Level Human- Sex - Trafficking Legislation, 25 J.L. & Health 415, 433 (2012); and WHEREAS, recently, law enforcement raids on "recreational massage establishments" in the City of Bedford, Ohio resulted in charges preferred against several individuals for various crimes, including prostitution, money laundering, and drug abuse. See Doug Brown, The Brothel of Bedford: The Prostitution Bust and the Corrupt Of Who Went Down with It, Scene Magazine, January 29, 2014; and WHEREAS, research indicates that the recreational massage industry has been regulated in order to protect the health, safety and general welfare, with examples in the City of Warren and the City of Elyria, which imposed regulatory standards that have been sustained upon judicial review; and WHEREAS, the Director of Safety recommends, with the advice of the Director of Law, that the Council revise and replace Chapter 749 in order to clarify the exemption from local licensure to avoid conflict with state law and in order to update and enhance regulatory standards for the protection of health, safety and general welfare; and