Modesto city leaders lift massage parlor ban - KCRA Sacramento

[massage]

Massage parlor signs are plenty on Modesto's McHenry Avenue, making them hard for drivers to ignore.


"There are some really good people here who are providing a good service for the community,” said Billy Anderson, owner of PFS Meals in Modesto.

Anderson’s business is a few doors down from a massage parlor.

"I have a lot of love for these people. They've been great." Anderson said.

Yet other massage parlors he passes on his drive home at night don't seem as legitimate.

"The outfits you see people wearing and you think that is not what a massage parlor should be wearing,” Anderson said.

In an effort to crack down on parlors that allegedly serve as fronts for prostitution and human trafficking, the city of Modesto banned new massage businesses from opening and current establishments from expanding or relocating.

Eight months after the moratorium passed, city officials voted Tuesday night to lift it and introduce an updated massage parlor ordinance.

"It’s a series of regulations that illegal businesses and prostitution rings don't want to follow but legitimate parlors have been perfectly happy to comply with,” Modesto City Attorney Adam Lindgren said.

Among the biggest changes is that massage parlor owners now must renew their licenses and pass a criminal background check to obtain a permit from Modesto police.

The ordinance also states that no massage parlor can be open or provide services between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.

"Legitimate practitioners don't want to practice in the middle of the night. They want to use sterile linens and do that kind of stuff,” Lindgren said.

The community hopes the new rules will prevent illegal businesses from targeting their city.

"I hope they're enforced enough that those bad businesses will be held back and the good businesses that provide good service can excel and continue to grow,” Anderson said.

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