COSTA MESA : Planning Board Tells 2 Businesses to Move

The Planning Commission told two acupressure businesses this week to pack up and move because they are operating without proper permits.

Many residents who attended the meeting on Monday complained that the acupressure establishments, which are classified as adult entertainment, should be somewhere else.

“The businesses are illegally parked in our neighborhood, and we want them out,” Charles Robertson, president of the Mesa Verde Homeowners Assn., told the commission.

The owners of Oriental Therapy, at 1525 Mesa Verde Drive, and Mesa Acupressure Center, at 2845 Mesa Verde Drive, have until Monday to appeal the commission decisions. Otherwise, they must close within 90 days.

Both businesses have been open for two years, and attorney Robert Davis, who represented them at the meeting, said the owners were unaware they had to apply for special permits.

“We took the position that we are not an adult entertainment business,” Davis said. The permit applications describe acupressure as using the heel of the hand and thumbs to apply pressure on the body for “relaxation and relieving of stress.”

However, Planning Commissioner Mark Korando argued that the businesses fall under the adult entertainment ordinance, which forbids them to be within 1,000 feet of a school, park, public building, church or business used by minors. They also cannot be within 500 feet of a residential zone.

Both businesses failed the conditions, according to the city staff. A dance studio, bowling alley and ice rink are all within 500 feet of Oriental Therapy. An employee said she expected the business to appeal the decision. The owner, Richard Min, was not available for comment.

The Mesa Acupressure Center is in the same complex as the Girl Scouts headquarters, a teen family planning clinic and a health clinic. Owner Yoshito Shigemasa said he doesn’t know if he will appeal the commission decision. “I haven’t given it much thought,” he said Friday, adding that he might just close and leave.

Davis argued that the city erred in issuing business licenses and building permits to both businesses without telling them they needed a conditional use permit as well.

City staffers said they now review all business license applications to alert people of the permits they need.