Council Bluffs, IA Business Licensing & Operations: Massage Establishments (2026)

CBMC Chapter 3.20 was adopted in 2025 to police massage businesses that use the trade as cover for prostitution or human trafficking, not to burden the state-licensed profession itself. The chapter first requires every massage therapist to hold the license Iowa already issues under Iowa Code Chapter 152C; practicing massage therapy, or even using the initials 'L.M.T.' or titles like 'masseur' or 'masseuse,' without a Section 152C.3 license is unlawful under CBMC 3.20.030. CBMC 3.20.040 requires each therapist to keep that state license in their possession while working in the city and to produce it on request from a customer or a city official.

CBMC 3.20.050 declares any building operated as a massage establishment in violation of the chapter, with the owner's or operator's knowing, reckless or negligent permission, to be a public nuisance, along with the fixtures used in the violation. Separately, CBMC 3.20.060 imposes a citywide operating-hours limit: no massage therapy business may be open for business or allow patrons on the premises between 10:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m., a curfew that applies regardless of licensing status or whether the business is mobile or temporary. Violations under CBMC 3.20.070 are both a municipal infraction and a misdemeanor, carrying the criminal and civil penalties set out in CBMC 1.95 and CBMC 8.02, and the chief of police can post a public placard on an unlicensed location declaring it unsafe to enter until a valid state license is obtained or another legal use is established; removing that placard without police approval is itself a separate violation.