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

Highland Municipal Code § 5.16.030 makes it unlawful to carry on the business of a massage establishment in the city without a license under Chapter 5.16. An employee who does not own the establishment does not need an establishment license. Subsection B makes it unlawful for an owner, operator, manager or licensee to employ anyone as a massage therapist or practitioner who lacks a valid CAMTC certificate. Under subsection C, every owner or operator also has to hold a city business license and keep the business license taxes and fees paid.

The application under § 5.16.060 asks for the establishment's legal name, a floor plan drawn to scale, each owner's government photo ID and home addresses for the previous five years, a CAMTC certificate for each owner and each employee, and the property owner's lease or a notarized acknowledgment. An owner without a CAMTC certificate submits fingerprints from a Live Scan center for a background check. The fee is nonrefundable and set by City Council resolution. The community development director issues the license unless a listed ground exists, such as a material misrepresentation, premises that fail health, zoning, fire or building laws, or certain convictions of an applicant subject to a background check (§ 5.16.070). Licenses run one year, renewal applications are not accepted earlier than 90 days before expiration, and changes to application information must be reported within 10 business days.

Operating rules in § 5.16.090 bar operation between 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m., living quarters, food service and alcohol on the premises, and they require a posted list of services and employee records and photographs kept until two years after termination. The exemptions in § 5.16.040 cover licensed physicians, nurses, chiropractors and others, plus therapists who work in salons or day spas where massage takes up less than 30 percent of the gross square footage or who perform outcall massage only. Those practitioners still have to comply with § 5.16.030, § 5.16.050 and § 5.16.100.