Hawthorne, CA Business Licensing & Operations: Massage Establishments (2026)

Chapter 5.58 of the Hawthorne Municipal Code makes it unlawful for any massage establishment to provide services unless it complies with the chapter and obtains both a business license under Chapter 5.06 and an operator's certificate under this chapter (Section 5.58.040). Every person providing massage must be currently certified as a massage practitioner or therapist by the California Massage Therapy Council under Business and Professions Code Sections 4600-4620 (Section 5.58.030). Operator's certificate applicants submit a detailed application to the Hawthorne police department covering aliases, ten years of addresses, employment authorization documents, business history, and all criminal convictions in the past ten years, plus LiveScan fingerprinting (Sections 5.58.070-5.58.080).

The chief of police issues the certificate unless the applicant supplied false information, engaged in disqualifying conduct, is under eighteen, or is delinquent on city fees; certificates run three years and are non-transferable. Facility rules require a posted price list, 40-watt minimum lighting in treatment rooms, hot and cold running water, separate facilities for male and female patrons served simultaneously, nonlockable treatment-room doors with no peepholes, and vermin control (Section 5.58.050). Operational rules bar residential use of the premises, alcohol or drugs on site, and any recording device in treatment rooms without the patron's written consent (Sections 5.58.060, 5.58.100). Notably, if a location is closed for criminal activity, no new massage establishment or certificate may be issued there for two years (Section 5.58.080(J)).