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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrdinance 3114 ORDINANCE NO. 3114 AN ORDINANCE REGULATING MASSAGE ESTABLISHMENTS; DEFINING TERMS; REQUIRING A LICENSE; REQUIRING HEALTH CERTIFICATES FOR EMPLOYES; REQUIRING FINGER PRINTING; PROVIDING OPENING AND CLOSING HOURS; REQUIRING MAN- AGER TO KEEP A LIST OF EMPLOYEES; PROVIDING PENALTY; SEPARABILITY CLAUSE AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY. WHERSAS, there are now no regulations pertaining to Turk- ish and Swedish Baths and massage establishments in the City of Fort Worth; and, WHEREAS, it is necessary to make such regulations in order to protect the health, morals, peace, safety and general welfare of the inhabitants of the City; and, WHEREAS, it has been brought to the attention of the Council that many employees in such establishments are infected with contagious diseases and that, in carrying on the business of such establishments, adequate provisions to prevent the spread of such dizeases are necessary; and, WHEREAS, certain of said establishments are threatening the morals of the City and its inhabitants by employing prostitutes and in carrying on their business in an immoral way; and, WHEREAS, certain of said establishments are operated in residential sections and cannot be adequately controlled by zoning laws; NOW THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT WORTH: SECTION 1 DEFINITIONS MASSAGE ESTABLISHMENT is any house, building, room or estab- lishment where massage or manipula%*d exercises are practiced upon the human body by any person and shall include the use of any modal- ities in electrotherapy, hydrotherapy and exercise therapy and shall include Turkish and Swedish bath houses but shall not include duly licensed hospitals and offices of physicians, osteopaths, chiropractors and naturopaths, beauty parlors and barber shops licensed under ordinances of the City of Fort Worth and the State of Texas and educational institutions, health clubs and private clubs approved by the Chief of Police and the Director of Public Health and Welfare. The word "massage" shall mean and include any process con- sisting of the kneading, rubbing or otherwise manipulating the skin of the body of a human being, either with the hand or by means of electrical or mechanical instruments or apparatus but shall not in- clude massage by licensed physicians, osteopaths, chiropractors and naturopaths, physical therapists and health service operators and employees under their supervision and shall not include massage of the face by duly licensed barbers and beauticians. PHYSICAL THERAPISTFis a graduate of a school approved by the Council on Medical Education and hospitals of the American Medical Association or is registered with the American Registry of Physical Therapists or is a member of the American Physical Therapy Association. HEALTH SERVICE OPERATOR - (A) Any person, physical educator or physical director who is qualified by education and training in Health Services and who is approved by an educational institution to give massage services in any establishment operated by a public school, private school or other educational institution approved by the Chief of Police and Director of the Department of Public Health and Welfare. (B) Any person, physical educator or physical director who is qualified by education and experience and who has passed the stand- ards and requirements of the Health Service Operators Society of the Y.M.C.A.ts qualifying the operator to administer massage in an estab- lishment operated by the Fort Worth Y.M.C.A. (C) Any person qualified by education and training to give massage subject to the approval of the Chief of Police and the Director of the Department of Public Health and Welfare. SECTION 2 LICENSE REQUIRED It shall be unlawful for any person to operate a massage establishment as herein defined without first having obtained a license therefor from the Assessor and Collector of Taxes, in accordance with the provisions of this ordinance, and paying the fee provided for herein. Such license shall only be issued upon the approval in writing of the Chief of Police and the Director of the Department of Public Health and Welfare. SECTION 3 LICENSE FEE The annual license fee shall be Twenty-five and No/100 Dol- lars, ($25.00), for each such establishment. If said license is obtain- ed between January 1 and June 30 of any year, the full amount of said fee shall be paid. If said license is obtained between July 1 and Dec- ember 31 of any year, the fee shall be one-half (j) of said amount. No refund shall ever be made of any such license fees. SECTION 4 HEALTH CERTIFICATE REQUIRED At the time of making application for such license, applicant shall furnish to the City Health Department the names and addresses of all employees of such establishment. The operator and all such employees shall secure from the Director of the Department of Public Health and Welfare a Certificate of Health stating that such person does not have, or is not a carrier of, any contagious or communicable diseases. The operator and each employee shall have in his possession at all times said Certificate of Health. Health Certificates shall be renewed semi- annually. No person who operates any massage establishment shall employ any person to work in such massage establishment who does not have in his possession a Certificate of Health issued by the Director of the Department of Public Health and Welfare, said certificate having been issued within the six (6) months next preceding. The Director of the Department of Public Health and Welfare may cancel a Health Certificate of any person when, after examination, such person is found to have some contagious or communicable disease, or is a carrier of such disease. The Director of the Department of Public Health and Welfare may, at his discretion, require the re-examination of any person employed by a mas- sage establishment at any time. SECTION FEE FOR EXAMINATION AND ISSUANCE OF CERTIFICATE Every person who operates a massage establishment and who is required to have a Certificate of Health issued by the Director of the Department of Public Health and Welfare shall pay to such Department the sum of Two Dollars ($2.00) for such examination and the issuance of such Certificate of Health. SECTION 6 DURATION OF CERTIFICATE AND FEE REQUIRED ON RENEWAL All such certificates shall be valid for a period of six (6) months from the date of the issuance of same, unless sooner revoked. The fee of Two Dollars, ($2.00), as herein provided for, shall be paid upon the issuance of each new certificate or any semi-annual renewal thereof. SECTION 7 REGISTRATION AND IDENTIFICATION OF APPLICANTS AND EMPLOYEES The Chief of Police shall register the name (including any assumed name used or in use), address, place of birth, places of former residence and features of identification, including finger prints, of the applicant for such' license and all employees of such establishment. SECTION 8 EMPLOYMENT OF PROSTITUTES It shall be unlawful for any person operating such an estab- lishment to employ a known prostitute in any capacity therein. The Chief of Police shall refuse to approve the issuance of a. license to any establishment which employs any person convicted of any crime in- volving moral turpitude in any State, Municipal or Federal Court, or who employs a woman who has been convicted of vagrancy or prostitu- tion, or who is a known prostitute. The employment of any such person shall be grounds for the revocation by the Chief of Police of the license issued hereunder. No massage establishment shall be kept open for any purpose between the hours of 10:00 PIM. and 8:00 A.M., .and no such estab- lishment shall be operated or conducted in connection, either directly or indirectly, with any place used for living or sleeping quarters. SECTION LIST OF EMPLOYEES The manager or person in charge of such establishment shall keep a list of the names and addresses of all employees, both on duty and off duty, and such list shall be shown to all proper authorities of the police and health departments upon request, and the license required herein shall be exhibited at all times in such establishment. SECTION 10 UNLAWFUL TO OPERATE IN VIOLATION OF ZONING It shall be unlawful for any massage establishment to be op- erated in any section of the City in violation of the Zoning Ordinance of the City. All applicants shall present evidence of compliance with the Zoning Ordinance at the time of making application for a license. SECTION 11 SANITATION It shall be the duty of every person conducting or operating a massage establishment to keep the same at all times in a clean and sanitary condition. All towels and linesns furnished for use of one patron shall not be furnished for use of another until thoroughly laundered. A11 operators and employees shall wash their hands thoroughly before administering massage manipulations to each patron accommodated. No person suffering from a communicable disease to the know- ledge of the owner, custodian, or employees of a massage establishment shall be accommodated as a patron therein. SECTION 12 RESPONSIBILITY The person, firms, corporations or individuals managing, keeping or operating a massage establishment shall be responsible for the acts of their employees in the conduct of said business. SECTION 13 PENALTIES A person violating any provisions of this ordinance shall be fined in any sum not exceeding Two Hundred Dollars ($200.00) for each offense, and each day that such violation continues shall be a separate and distinct offense. SECTION 14 SEPARABILITY CLAUSE In the event any part, section, subsection, paragraph, sentence, clause, phrase or word of this ordinance shall be declared or adjudged invalid or unconstitutional, such adjudication shall in no manner affect any other parts, sections, subsections, paragraphs, sentences, clauses, phrases or words of this ordinance, but all the rest hereof shall be in full force and effect just as though the part, section, subsection, paragraph, sentence, clause, phrase, or word so declared or adjud#ed invalid or unconstitutional were not originally a part hereof, and the City Council decllares that it would have passed such remaining portions despite such invalidity. SECTION 15 DECLARING AN EMERGENCY The fact that there are no regulations of massage establishments in the City of Fort Worth creates an urgency and an emergency for the preservation of public health, morals, peace, safety, and general welfare, and requires that this ordinance become effective immediately from and after its passage, and it is so ordained. ADOPTED THIS day of �d+�. 1953. NA Y 0E ATTEST: CITY SECMARY APPROVED AS TO FORM: ASSISTANT CITY ATTORNEY