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

I of the Zoning Code, rewritten by Ordinance No. NS-2903 in 2016, splits massage uses into three tiers with different rules. A chair massage service -- fully clothed massage of the head, neck, back, arms and feet in a public or semi-public area -- may locate wherever retail and service uses are permitted. An ancillary massage establishment tied to a health club, gym, hotel or medical office, capped at 25 percent of the related facility's floor area, may locate wherever that host use is permitted.

A full massage establishment, under Section 41-1752(c), is limited to the C1, C1-MD, C2, C4, C5 or C-SM zoning districts (or an approving Specific Plan) and needs a Conditional Use Permit; it cannot sit within 1,000 feet of another massage establishment, measured entrance-to-entrance, or within 500 feet of residentially zoned or used property, measured from its entrance to the residential parcel's outer boundary. Section 41-1753 layers on the permits required before any tier can open: a certificate of occupancy, a city business license, and a massage establishment permit issued by the Chief of Police under Section 22-2 -- a full massage establishment also needs the CUP first.

, no exterior pay phones or covered windows, 'no loitering' signs at front and rear, employees at least 18 years old and badged, and every technician must hold a valid, unrevoked California Massage Therapy Council certificate.