Lake Forest is considering a package of business regulations that would bring salons and other personal-care businesses with private service rooms into a new city licensing system and revise the rules for massage establishments.

The package is not law yet. The city's public page still describes the two ordinances as proposed, and both ordinance exhibits are marked as drafts. A public survey closed July 7. The city says adoption and an effective date for the massage rules are tentatively expected in fall 2026, but it has not posted a final date on the proposal page.

Which personal-care businesses would need a license

The proposed Chapter 5.06 would apply to a personal-care business that provides services in at least one private room. The draft lists barber shops, beauty shops and salons, nail salons, similar service businesses, and licensed acupuncturists as examples.

A private room is defined as a separate room or space intended to give a customer privacy by blocking visibility into the service area. A salon with an open floor plan and no private service room would not fall within that definition.

An affected business would need a separate city license for each personal-care service it owns, operates, or manages. Existing businesses covered when the chapter takes effect would have until July 1, 2027, to apply, if that deadline remains in the final ordinance.

The application would require information about the business, its owners and managers, five years of relevant business and employment history, the employees expected to work there, applicable state professional licenses, and a diagram identifying customer areas, employee-only areas, restrooms, and private rooms. The city would inspect the site before issuing a license.

The amount of the application fee is not stated in the draft. It would be set separately by the City Council.

Annual renewal and operating standards

The proposed personal-care license would expire after one year. A business seeking renewal would have to apply at least 90 days before expiration and provide either its current lease or proof that it owns the property. A business that misses renewal would have to stop operating until the license is renewed.

The draft also sets operating standards for covered businesses. Storefront windows generally would have to remain transparent and unobscured during business hours. The business could not provide services that meet the municipal code's definition of massage, although touching incidental to the primary service would remain allowed.

Businesses operating from a separate suite inside a multi-tenant property receive a limited exception from the storefront-window rule when they do not control the entire premises.

What would change for massage establishments

Lake Forest already requires massage establishments to obtain city licenses. The proposed Chapter 5.07 would revise that existing system rather than create licensing from scratch.

The most significant location rule is a 500-foot separation requirement for a new massage establishment or an existing business that relocates. The draft requires 500 feet from another massage establishment and from any school, park, playground, civic center, or religious institution. Existing massage establishments lawfully operating when the provision takes effect would not be subject to the new spacing rule unless they relocate.

Applicants would have to provide ownership and employment histories, employee and manager information, fingerprints through Live Scan, a floor plan, and other licensing records. When the applicant does not own the property, the application would also need a signed statement from the property owner acknowledging the proposed use and a copy of the lease.

Visibility, hours, signs, and customer records

The massage draft adds detailed facility and operating requirements:

  • Visibility. Reception or waiting areas visible from a public street, parking area, walkway, or common hallway could not be substantially blocked. The draft treats coverage of more than 15 percent of window area or 10 percent of a clear door as an obstruction.
  • Hours. Massage services could not be provided between 9 p.m. and 7 a.m. Customers would have to leave by 9 p.m. With limited exceptions for working custodial, maintenance, or management staff, no one could remain inside from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.
  • Posting. Businesses would have to display operating hours, services, prices, and service lengths. The draft also requires notices about inspections and state anti-human-trafficking information in specified languages and locations.
  • Records. For every massage service, the establishment would have to record the date and time, the service provided, the customer's name and contact information, the employee making the entry, and the massage therapist's name and certification number. The records would have to remain on the premises for at least three years and be available to authorized city officials or law enforcement enforcing the chapter.

The draft makes the owner, operator, and designated manager responsible for employee and contractor conduct on the premises. Violations could affect whether an establishment's license is issued, renewed, or revoked.

What remains unsettled

The ordinance exhibits describe the proposed rules, but they do not establish that the City Council has adopted them. The final legislation could change the covered businesses, deadlines, fees, spacing rules, or operating standards.

The July 1, 2027 personal-care application deadline therefore should be treated as a proposed compliance date, not a current obligation. The same is true of the city's tentative fall 2026 timing for the massage provisions.

The practical takeaway

A Lake Forest salon, barber shop, nail salon, acupuncture practice, or similar business should first identify whether any service area meets the draft definition of a private room. A massage establishment considering a new location or move should map nearby massage businesses and sensitive uses before committing to a lease.

Businesses can also compare their current window coverings, hours, signs, and record systems with the draft requirements. Those steps reveal where changes may be needed without assuming the proposal is final. Before filing an application, paying a fee, changing a lease, or rebuilding a service area, confirm that the City Council has adopted an ordinance and obtain the final text and effective date from the city.