BELMONT, Calif. -- Concerns about prostitution have infiltrated the quiet peninsula city of Belmont as the city manager raised questions about massage parlor employees in the wake of a state group discrediting a number of schools that provide training for massage licenses.

Belmont has ten massage establishments and 47 registered massage therapists. Police said 37 of those therapists have gone to massage schools or received training that a state group has deemed illegitimate.

So Belmont wants a one year moratorium on any new massage permits while the current massage establishments are re-checked.

Susan Fleming, who works at the Relaxation Center, said she has been a Belmont massage therapist for 17 years and under the guidelines of a new state law has been certified by the California Massage Therapy Council.

“There's a distinction between legitimate massage therapy and adult entertainment,” said Fleming. “If somebody has this, it demonstrates that they have all the qualifications that someone would need who has gone to a accredited school.”

Belmont City Attorney Mark Zafferano issued a memo to city council members that stated the illegitimate schools serve as "a conduit for sex workers who then set up illegitimate massage businesses across the state."

Joy Zhou owns the Bay Health Center, which has been in business for eight years. She has eight massage therapists, some who were schooled in China at institutions that are not on the approved list.

Through a translator, she explained that she was concerned about the certification of some of her workers.

“She is aware of the list, but she thinks that's not fair because when they went to the school at that time, it was considered to be legitimate and certified,” said Zhou through her translator.

Still, Belmont police want to hold off on any new massage therapists until they can re-check the current ones.

“This industry is ripe for some abuse and the city as a regulatory agency has a responsibility to the public that if they go to a city licensed facility that it is professional and meets the appropriate standards,” Belmont Police Lt. Patrick Halleran.

The Belmont City Council will take up what's being called an urgency ordinance to deal with the massage issue Tuesday night.

Belmont police emphasized that there have been no arrests of massage therapists in the city for prostitution.