Albany, OR Business Licensing & Operations: Massage Establishments (2026)

Chapter 5.30 of the Albany Municipal Code, titled Massage Parlors, regulates massage businesses in the City of Albany, Oregon. Section 5.30.010(4) defines a massage establishment as any establishment having a source of income or compensation derived from the practice of massage and which has a fixed place of business where any person, firm, association or corporation engages in or carries on massage activities. The definition of massage in § 5.30.010(3) is broad: any method of pressure on or friction against or stroking, kneading, rubbing, tapping, pounding, vibrating or stimulating of the external parts of the human body with the hands or with mechanical or electrical apparatus, under circumstances where it is reasonably expected that the person treated or a third person will pay money or give any other consideration or gratuity.

The licensing requirement in § 5.30.020 is a cross-reference rather than a City permit. No person shall engage in or carry out the business of massage unless he or she has met and is in compliance with the requirements of, and has a license pursuant to, Chapter 334, Division 10 of the Oregon Administrative Rules governing massage licensing. The state license is the qualifying document, and the City code makes holding it a condition of doing business inside Albany. The chapter also defines the people involved: a licensee is the person to whom a license has been issued to own or operate a massage establishment, a masseur or masseuse is anyone who for any consideration engages in the practice of massage, and an employee is any person over 18 years of age, other than a masseur or masseuse, who renders any service in connection with the operation of a massage business.

Section 5.30.030 spreads responsibility widely. Every person, whether acting as an individual owner, employee of the owner, operator or employee of the operator, mere agent or independent contractor, or a participant or worker in any way directly or indirectly, who gives massages or operates a massage establishment without first obtaining a license or permit in accordance with the Oregon Administrative Rules and AMC § 5.30.020, is guilty of a misdemeanor. The exemptions written into the chapter are the only exception to that reach.