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Item No: 2 Meeting Date: November 4, 2002 Type of Business: Worksession City of Mounds View Staff Report To: Honorable Mayor and City Council From: James Ericson, Community Development Director Item Title/Subject: Discussion Regarding Chapter 514 of the Mounds View Municipal Code pertaining to Therapeutic Massage Date of Report: October 30, 2002 Background: In response to what was then viewed as a deficiency to the City Code, the Council adopted Ordinance 583 on September 23, 1996 putting into place regulations and requirements relating to the licensure and operation of a therapeutic massage business. The City’s attorney, Bob Long of Kennedy & Graven, prepared the ordinance. Discussion: The reason staff is bringing this ordinance back before the Council again six years after its adoption results from a glaring omission in the original document and a problem with a section of the ordinance pertaining to temporary therapeutic massage licenses. The City has received a number of inquiries from residents asking if therapeutic massage could be allowed as a home-based business. Because our zoning code does not prohibit any specific types of uses, any use that is not otherwise regulated could potentially become a home-based business. Staff reviewed Ordinance 583 which was codified as Chapter 514 under Title 500, Business License Regulations to determine what the requirements for such an operation would be. The ONLY stipulation governing the location of such a business appears in Section 514.10, Subd 2, which states the following: Zoning Compliance: A therapeutic massage enterprise may not be licensed if the location of such enterprise is not in conformance with Title 1100 of the Mounds View Municipal Code. Surprisingly, the Zoning Code is silent on such uses. I asked the current City Attorney “why adopt an ordinance that requires zoning code compliance and then not amend the Zoning Code to address the use you’ve just regulated?” Unfortunately there is no answer to adequately explain this rather obvious omission. I will bring this same discussion to the attention of the Planning Commission but wanted feedback and direction from the Council beforehand. The other issue that has come to light in recent days relates to the temporary licensure provisions of 514.15. The intent of this section, as best as anyone can determine, is to allow for therapists to perform massage therapy activity off-site, although that is not articulated in the code. The temporary license requirements are as follows: