Norman City Council discussed license requirements for massage therapy establishments and the use of opioid funds in a Tuesday study session.
Ordinance for massage therapy license requirements
The news: Assistant City Attorney Kathryn Walker presented a proposed ordinance that would add licensure requirements for massage therapy and related establishments. Walker said the proposal follows an increase in businesses fronting as massage therapy and bodywork services establishments as a cover for prostitution, human and drug trafficking, and money laundering.
“There are about 15 of these establishments running at any time,” Brent Barbour, a major at Norman Police Department, said. “It is very common.”
According to Walker, state law began licensing massage therapists in 2016, but did not include regulating establishments.
“That makes it really challenging for customers and others to identify what’s legitimate and what’s not,” Walker said.
Establishment licensure requirements would include having a sanitary establishment, an employee register and appropriate clothing for providers, according to Walker. Operating hours would be limited to 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Walker said businesses could apply to operate outside of these hours within their license application.
The license would not allow individuals to sleep in the establishment overnight or for providers to make contact with sexual or genital areas, unless the contact was part of a treatment plan for which the provider had training.
The license would cost an initial $50 fee, according to the ordinance.
The ordinance would also remove the definition of “massage parlor” from the definition of “adult entertainment uses” in the city’s municipal code.
According to Walker, this definition was last updated in the 1980s.
Council will vote on the ordinance at its Jan. 27 meeting, according to Walker. If approved, the ordinance would go into effect April 1.
What they’re saying: Ward 5 Councilmember Brandon Nofire asked how ordinance enforcement would work if someone was sexually assaulted at an illegitimate massage therapy establishment.
Barbour said in cases of sexual assault, the police would handle the investigation.
Ward 1 Councilmember David Gandesbury said he spoke with Norman massage therapists who were eager for the massage parlor definition to be removed from the definition of “adult entertainment uses.”
“The number one thing that they was really, really hopeful for was that adult entertainment stigma,” Gandesbury said, “even at least for the (massage therapists) that are actually doing it in the proper manner.”
Mayor Stephen Tyler Holman encouraged massage therapists and establishments to reach out to their council members and share their views of the proposed ordinance.
Ordinance limiting device use in school, construction zones
The news: Assistant City Attorney Jeanne Snider proposed an ordinance that would mirror House Bill 2263, which went into effect Nov. 1. The bill makes it unlawful to operate a vehicle while using, holding or supporting a handheld electronic device.
Snider said a similar ordinance passed by the city would ensure consistency with state law and would allow police officers to file lesser citations in municipal courts rather than district courts.
Council will vote on the ordinance at its Jan. 27 meeting, Snider said.
What they’re saying: Snider said the state should have included the new bill’s wording when House Bill 1965, which banned texting while driving, was passed in 2015.
“It was written poorly by the Legislature when they just said ‘texting.’ That should have just been ‘handheld devices,’” Snider said. “People tell me, ‘I was just looking at the maps.’ Well, you can’t look at the maps and drive at the same time.”
Ordinance addressing marijuana use, secondhand smoke in vehicles
The news: Snider presented a proposed ordinance that would mirror Senate Bill 786, which went into effect Nov. 1. The bill makes it unlawful for a person to operate a vehicle on a public highway, street or alley while consuming marijuana, including for medical purposes. The bill also prohibits a person from operating a vehicle while inhaling secondhand marijuana smoke.
Council will vote on the ordinance at its Jan. 27 meeting, according to Holman.
What they’re saying: Snider compared the use of marijuana while driving to alcohol consumption.
“You can’t drive down the street with a can of beer in your hand,” Snider said. “You couldn't have an open bottle of vodka (in your vehicle).”
Barbour said smoking marijuana in vehicles is an issue in Norman, particularly downtown.
“Every probably dozen or so car that comes to my neighborhood and stop at the stop sign in front of my house looks like Cheech and Chong,” Barbour said.
Holman asked how officers will determine the difference between vapes that contain nicotine versus marijuana.
“Discretion’s a big key to a lot of that,” Barbour said. “Our (officers) who are just seeing a cloud of smoke, that’s not what we’re aiming for. What you’re gonna see is those driving behaviors.”
Proposed usages of opioid funds
The news: Shannon Stevenson, assistant city manager, gave a presentation regarding an opioid settlement fund the city of Norman received to help combat the opioid crisis.
The money comes from a settlement paid out to state and local governments that agreed to refrain from continuing with lawsuits directed towards companies that manufactured, promoted, distributed or dispensed prescription opioids, according to the U.S. Congress website.
The city anticipates receiving $248,000 per year through 2038, according to the presentation. The city also has $830,000 of unallocated money that will go toward the fund, according to Stevenson. The funds will be used for treatment, recovery, prevention, education, criminal justice, public safety, oversight and coordination, Stevenson said.
Proposed projects under the fund include $20,000 of additional Narcan, $50,000 for drug treatment for Norman residents housed in the Cleveland County Detention Center, $90,000 toward hiring an outreach coordinator, $110,000 for a community resiliency manager and $7,500 for a social work intern.
The next steps for the fund proposals include drafting job descriptions and advertising for those positions this month, according to Stevenson. Through early 2026, city staff plan to review resumes, interview candidates for these new positions, secure an office space and onboard all new employees.
What they’re saying: Ward 2 councilmember, Matthew Peacock, said he’d be supportive if the city of Norman could get Cleveland County to match the price for drug treatment in the detention center so that all detainees can get help, not just Norman residents.
Ward 4 Councilmember Helen Grant said these new positions are needed in Norman.
“(Business owners) do want a mental health response, like somebody comes into their business and they’re kinda flipping out and they can tell its mental health, (the business owners) have asked for mental health,” Grant said. “They’re like ‘We really don't want the police to come on this one because we don't think they can actually do anything about this.’”
Grant said they believe a social worker would help with this issue.
Parking trust for parking and transit operations
The news: Walker presented a plan to establish a trust for parking and transit operations.
Walker said the trust would address parking concerns in Norman by planning, developing and administering parking facilities, acquiring property for said facilities, and funding actions related to public parking.
Projected trust revenue in 2026 is $364,000, with revenue coming from parking lot leases, parking meters and parking enforcement, according to Walker. Projected expenditures in 2026 is $423,945 due to maintenance, and funding for parking enforcement staff and parking administrative staff, according to a slideshow presented in the meeting.
To combat the deficit, proposed updates to parking management plans include increases to meter and lease rates. Walker said those increases will be on council’s Dec. 9 agenda.
Walker said the city heard feedback from residents saying they want council to be a trustee.
The presentation listed other public trusts in the city of Norman, such as the Norman Municipal Authority, which covers sanitation and golf courses, the Norman Utilities Authority, which covers water and sewer projects, and Norman Regional Hospital Authority, which covers hospital revenues and hospital system management.
Council will vote on the trust during its Dec. 9 meeting.
What they’re saying: Grant expressed support for the trust.
“I’m ready to see it,” Grant said.
Ward 6 Councilmember Joshua Hinkle noted council has been working on a plan like this for years.
“Having a mechanism like this that allows us to reach some of the density goals that we’ve been looking for for a decade now is a big step in the right direction,” Hinkle said. “Last week, we’re buying shelter land and this week, we’re starting a parking trust.”
This story was edited by Thomas Pablo.
