Earlier this week, in what must have been a very well attended city council meeting, the city of Azusa revamped its zoning code with relation to guns, tattoos, and massage businesses. Before Monday, gun stores (there is only one gun seller in Azusa) were allowed in residential areas and could open with only a general retail license. The new code, passed on Monday, limits the areas where gun businesses can open, mostly to business districts. Such businesses will also require a use permit, which comes with a lot more oversight. Just in case the NRA is watching, a San Gabriel Valley Tribune story on the zoning changes quotes Assistant Community and Economic Development Director Conal McNamara, who explains: "We are certainly not trying to discourage the sale of firearms...We would welcome a Big-5 sporting goods."
The city didn't just stop at guns, also establishing a moratorium on tattoo parlors, giving city staff time to review the code before more shops can open. According to Azusa Councilmember Uriel Macias, also quoted in the SGVT story, "There is a place for everyone in this world...Some people like tattoos. There is a place for them too. We just didn't want to have too many of them plastered in one area."
And then there is the whole slippery issue of massage parlors. The city changed its codes to allow massage technicians to be certified locally, in response to a state law that puts most massage parlor certifications in the capable hands of the California Massage Therapy Council. Unfortunately, no one in Azusa had anything diplomatic to say about that.
· Code changes put restrictions on Azusa tattoo, massage and firearms businesses [San Gabriel Valley Tribune]
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