Planning Commission approves zoning tweak to allow massage services inside health-care offices

The San Francisco Planning Commission voted unanimously 7–0 on Feb. 3 to approve an amendment to the planning code that allows massage establishments to operate as an accessory use inside health-service offices such as chiropractic and acupuncture clinics.

Planning staff said the change is a follow-up to a broader zoning reform enacted last year that relaxed restrictions on standalone massage businesses. Veronica Flores, planning department staff, told the commission the amendment fixes a zoning-table error in NC2 districts and would ‘‘allow massage establishments as an accessory use to health services’’ while leaving underlying health-service zoning unchanged.

Jacob Medliff, representing Supervisor Rafael Mandelmann, said the trailing ordinance responds to business owners’ concerns that the earlier ordinance still excluded massage services in certain health offices. ‘‘Health services, including chiropractor and acupuncture offices, should be able to staff massage therapists and offer the service to their clients,’’ he said, urging the commission to approve the cleanup.

Christine Du of the San Francisco Massage Community Council urged commissioners to approve the amendment and said the change would help women and minority massage practitioners recover from the pandemic and avoid harmful stigma: ‘‘We are very much against human trafficking, and we hope that we can continue to be partners in this endeavor with the city,’’ she said.

Staff noted the December ordinance had also strengthened Department of Public Health enforcement by prohibiting massage uses for three years at locations where DPH revoked permits; the trailing ordinance does not change those enforcement mechanisms but extends accessory-use permissions for health-service sites.

Commissioners indicated broad support for the cleanup and for avoiding regulatory barriers for legitimate practitioners. With no members of the public asking to remove the item from consent, the commission approved the amendment with staff modifications by a 7–0 vote.

The ordinance will be updated in the board file to reflect the NC2 table correction and will proceed through any remaining administrative steps for final adoption.