Officials halt massage site

SOUTH GLENDALE — A medical facility that was allegedly performing massages without a permit was ordered Monday to stop soliciting those services.

Code enforcement officials had given CHS Health Care Inc. on the 1600 block of East Colorado Street a 72-hour notice Feb. 23 to obtain a conditional-use permit to perform massages after Glendale police arrested an employee on suspicion of offering sex acts to an undercover officer.

The facility’s operators submitted a permit application Monday, Code Enforcement Officer Rene Sada said.

Still, officials have ordered the facility to cease all massage services, even with the referral of a medical professional.

“As of Monday, they are not allowed to perform any massages,” he said.

Businesses that offer massages are allowed to perform those services on site only for therapeutic use, and they must be approved by a chiropractor, acupuncturist or physician.

A detective on Sunday was given a $60 massage for an hour without having to fill out any paperwork or sign in, Glendale Police Sgt. Scott Johnstone said.

The detective wasn’t asked if he had any pain or medical problems and didn’t see a health-care professional before getting the massage, he said.

“It keeps going on,” Johnstone said.

Because the facility is not permitted to perform massage services, police and code enforcement officials will conduct regular, unannounced checks, he said.

Sada has also submitted a request to the city’s Community Planning Department to revoke the facility’s zoning use certificate, which allows it to operate, because of missed permit deadlines, the Feb. 19 undercover arrest and a continual violation of city code despite being asked to stop massage services, he said.

“Our ultimate goal is to close them down,” Sada said.

Police have arrested several employees on suspicion of soliciting prostitution at the site since 2001.

K&P Health Care Corporation, run by different operators than CHS Health Care Inc., came under scrutiny in November 2008 for running a similar operation at the same location.

Business operators tried to expand their conditional-use permit in 2008 to allow walk-in massage clients without physician referrals, but planning officials denied their request due to its history of citations.