Buffalo Grove approves stricter regulation of massage businesses - Chicago Tribune

[massage]

A newly approved ordinance in Buffalo Grove should make it more difficult for organizers of prostitution working under the guise of massage businesses to return to the village.

Earlier this year, Buffalo Grove officials started debating a possible ordinance imposing stricter regulations on property owners, who lease space to massage business that organize prostitution at their establishments, after two women were charged in April 2016 with operating a massage therapy business without a license in the village.

Trustees sent the proposal back for revisions earlier in March over concerns about the scope being too broad before approving a slimmed-down version March 20.

Under the approved ordinance, when a massage business loses its license because of prostitution-related offenses, the owner of the property where the offenses took place cannot lease that spot to another massage business for the next two years.


The ordinance also stipulates general conditions allowing officials to impose a 24-month restriction on massage establishments.

The 24-month restriction can be applied when a massage business has had a license revoked for making fraudulent, misleading or false statements on a license application; a licensee's conviction related to violating provisions of the license, the subject matter of the license or the premises occupied; refusing to allow village inspectors or investigations, and when the conduct of the business constitutes a nuisance or presents a danger to the public, according to the new ordinance.


Addressing trustees' earlier concerns about the scope of the proposal, village staffers told board members that the intent behind the ordinance was to block larger organizations, which operate prostitution rings, from shuffling some paperwork, setting up new identities and essentially moving the same business back into the same address but under a different name.

Even after village staffers eliminated some provisions from the proposal, trustees discussed and decided March 20 to eliminate a provision that stated the 24-month restriction could be applied when the massage license or business is not in compliance with "any provision of the Buffalo Grove Municipal Code, state or federal laws, rules or regulations."


"It was too broad," Village President Beverly Sussman said of the original proposal. "We just felt it was a much more fair thing to do."

rwachter@pioneerlocal.com

Twitter @RonnieAtPioneer


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