For City Council Meeting March 24, 2026
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council
FROM: Tanya Williams, City Manager
AUTHOR: Mark P. Kling, Chief of Police
Title
Adopt Urgency Ordinance No. 1712, Entitled, “An Interim Urgency Ordinance of the City Council of the City of Rialto, California, Declaring a Temporary Moratorium on the Establishment, Expansion, or Intensification of Massage Parlors Within the Jurisdictional Boundaries of the City of Rialto and Finding that Said Action is Exempt from CEQA.”
(ACTION)
Body
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that the City Council consider and adopt Urgency Ordinance.
BACKGROUND
In recent years, Rialto Police Department personnel have discovered evidence of illicit sexual activity occurring at massage establishments, which are referenced as “massage parlors” under the Rialto Municipal Code, in the City of Rialto (“City”). These activities create significant impacts to public health, safety, and welfare. To prevent further growth of this criminal trend, an urgency ordinance is proposed to temporarily prohibit the processing of use permits for new, expanded, or intensified massage parlors throughout the City. The proposed ordinance would prohibit new massage parlor applicants from obtaining the required licenses to open a new business within the City, and existing massage parlors would be prohibited from expanding or otherwise intensifying their existing use. The urgency ordinance is necessary to provide the City with sufficient time to study and propose updated municipal and zoning code regulations to effectively regulate massage parlors and mitigate the negative impacts of illegal activity associated with insufficiently regulated massage parlors.
ANALYSIS/DISCUSSION
Massage parlors that engage in illicit sexual activity pose an immediate and significant threat to the health, safety, and welfare of the community. 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.
Based on recent identification of criminal sexual activity at massage parlors within the City and at other massage establishments within the immediate vicinity of the City, coupled with several recent new massage parlor business applications, City staff has legitimate concerns that the City’s regulations concerning massage parlors are insufficient. There is currently one massage parlor in operation with a valid business license within City limits.
The City currently regulates massage parlors (also known as a “massage establishment”) pursuant to Chapter 5.24 of the Rialto Municipal Code and, further, requires massage parlors to obtain a conditional development permit pursuant to Chapter 18.66 of the Rialto Municipal Code. However, absent modification and updates to the City’s current massage parlor regulations, the current regulations do not sufficiently regulate massage parlors within the City and could potentially lead to the negative impacts associated with insufficiently regulated massage parlors. Combating these problems will require the Police and Community Compliance Departments to divert valuable resources from addressing other important public safety concerns. Approval of this temporary moratorium will allow staff to research and develop more comprehensive regulations and codes to effectively protect against the detrimental impacts of an increase in illicit massage parlors.
Government Code Sections 36937 and 65858 authorize the City Council to adopt an interim urgency ordinance to protect public health, safety, and welfare. Government Code Section 65858 specifically allows a temporary moratorium to prohibit any uses that may be in conflict with a contemplated zoning proposal that the City wishes to study. The proposed interim urgency ordinance makes the requisite Government Code findings that there is an urgent need to protect the public health, safety, and welfare from illicit activities that occur at some massage establishments within the City. If adopted, it would immediately establish a 45-day moratorium on the establishment, expansion, or intensification of massage parlor uses.
During this period, the City would not approve or issue any permit or approval (including, but not limited to, grading, infrastructure, building, temporary certificate of occupancy, certificate of occupancy, conditional use permit, conditional development permit, variance, change to the zoning or General Plan designation) for new massage parlors or for the expansion or intensification of existing massage parlors. During the moratorium period, any massage parlor that has obtained a conditional development permit prior to the moratorium’s effective date would be allowed to obtain permits (including building permits) and licenses to establish the use as provided in the conditional development permit. Existing massage businesses could continue to apply for permit and/or license renewals and the City could continue to make final decisions on those applications. A 45-day moratorium would provide staff the time to gather data about the impacts of massage establishments, and to research, study, and prepare recommendations for the Council’s consideration regarding potential amendments to the City’s regulatory process and Zoning Code. Additionally, staff would study potential changes to the City regulatory scheme related to inspection processes and schedules, including studying the efficacy of mandating regular inspections on massage businesses.
Per Government Code section 65858, the Urgency Ordinance requires an affirmative vote of 4/5th of the City Council to be adopted. If passed, the Urgency Ordinance will continue in effect for 45 days and, thereafter, will be of no further force and effect, unless the City Council extends the moratorium. Any ordinance extending the moratorium requires a noticed public hearing and can be for up to an additional 10 months and 15 days. Thereafter, the moratorium may be extended one more time for an additional year.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
The proposed action is not a project within the meaning of Section 15378 of the State of California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA") Guidelines, because it has no potential for resulting in physical change in the environment, directly or indirectly. Further, under Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations, section 15061(b)(3), this interim urgency Ordinance is nonetheless exempt from the requirements of CEQA. Where it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity in question may have a significant effect on the environment, the activity is not subject to CEQA.
GENERAL PLAN CONSISTENCY
The City’s General Plan has outlined guiding principles and goals relating to public safety. This action is consistent with the City’s General Plan Guiding Principle 1, “Rialto is a Family First Community.”
Our neighborhoods will be a safe place to call home.
Approval of this action is also consistent with the City General Plan Goal and Policy below:
Goal 5-8: Provide effective and comprehensive policing services that meet the safety needs of Rialto.
Policy 5-8.4: Initiate proactive crime suppression and prevention strategies throughout the community.
LEGAL REVIEW
The City Attorney's Office has reviewed the staff report and prepared the urgency ordinance.
FINANCIAL IMPACTS
Adoption of the Urgency Ordinance has no financial impact on the City.
ATTACHMENTS
1. Urgency Ordinance-Massage Parlor Moratorium