City Council to Decide Future of Fortunetellers in Downtown LCF Area

The La Cañada City Council is scheduled to take up the issue of fortunetellers and psychics operating in the downtown area with a public hearing at its meeting Monday night.

There is currently no regulation in the city of businesses selling fortunetelling, psychic predictions and tarot card reading, and city council is going to decide how to regulate them, which will end up determining if they are allowed in the downtown area. 

The city is not allowed to ban fortunetellers outright, due to a 1985 California Supreme Court ruling, but they can regulate where they are located. 

If the city council votes to categorize the businesses as offices, then they would be allowed anywhere in the city, including the downtown area, La Cañada Senior Planner Fred Buss explained. But if the city council decides to create a specific zoning ordinance listing for fortunetellers, then they would be allowed in the city, but not in the downtown area. 

"They would not be allowed in one of the mixed use zones because those mixed use zones, they are only in the specific plan area, and that has its own zoning ordinance," Buss said. 

The city recently received an inquiry from a person interested in practicing fortunetelling and psychic readings, which motivated staff to create a policy, according to the La Cañada Sun.