Naperville council sets new permit process for massage parlors, agrees to pay parking deck consultant $1.6M - MSN

[Tess Kenny, Naperville Sun (Naperville, Ill.)]

The Naperville City Council approved new regulations for local massage businesses, $1.6 million for parking deck improvements and an updated legislative review process at its meeting this week.


Here is a roundup of the highlights:

Permitting required for massage businesses​

Massage establishments in Naperville will have to obtain city permits starting later this year, elected officials decided Tuesday.

Currently, neither establishments nor massage therapists are mandated to be registered or permitted by the city, according to city staff. Per a code amendment approved by council, the city will start requiring permits for such businesses within its corporate limits. The change goes into effect Aug. 1.

The amendment was spurred by oversight difficulties with existing regulations, according to Naperville Police Chief Jason Arres.

The police department has received complaints alleging inappropriate activity is occurring at massage businesses. While city officials believe most in Naperville provide reputable and professional services, there has been more than one instance in which “we’ve run into prostitution cases,” Arres said.

Police have also “run into human trafficking as it relates to these massage parlors,” he said.

In March 2024, the owner of a downtown Naperville massage business was charged with battery and misdemeanor disorderly conduct after he was accused of having “unwanted contact of a sexual nature with a client,” police said.

State law requires that massage therapists, masseurs or masseuses be licensed. However, without permitting or registration for the businesses where they work, it’s difficult to hold the parlor owners accountable for noncompliant massage therapists in their employ, Arres said.

“You can address the person (committing) the prostitution, for instance, in many of these cases,” he said. “But it’s more than that. The owners are culpable.”

Per the amendment, business owners will be required to pay a one-time fee for a city permit. Establishments exempt from the requirement are those where massage is not the primary source of business, including hospitals, nursing homes, nail and facial salons, health clubs and spas.

To receive a permit, applicants must undergo fingerprinting and a background check.

“This gives our town a chance to really, hopefully, weed out the bad actors,” Arres said, “because there (are) so many good businesses … and they don’t want the bad actors bringing a bad image to what massage therapy really is.”

Parking deck improvements OK’d​

The council has hired Hoffman Estates-based Walker Consultants to provide design expertise, bidding assistance and construction management services for several parking deck projects. The three-year contract with the company is for an amount not to exceed $1.6 million, according to a staff report.

Among the projects that Walker will provide assistance on are a structural renovation of the city’s Municipal Center parking deck; replacement of the sealant on and waterproofing the top level of the Water Street parking deck; and replacement of the fire suppression system in the Central Parking deck, according to Director of Public Works Dick Dublinski.

The city’s Central Parking, Municipal Center, Van Buren and Water Street decks were built in 1987, 1989, 2001 and 2015, respectively. These decks require repair, renovations and ongoing maintenance, Dublinski said.

The goals behind planned work, he said, are to enhance safety and increase the lifespan of the structures.

Legislative review process, priorities OK’d​

As they look ahead to the coming year, council members adopted a new legislative review process for providing city feedback on state legislation and set eight legislative priorities for 2025.

The updated process lays out several paths for how the city can get involved with pending legislation, including the placement of bills on the council agenda for discussion and the submission of witness slips on legislation that directly relates to approved legislative priorities. Regardless of the path taken, the issues would be publicly shared through the city’s Manager’s Memorandum.

For 2025, council members approved the following priorities:

• Protect public pension systems and the taxpayers that fund them.
• Increase the Local Government Distributive Fund.
• Pursue affordable and convenient public transportation.
• Seek replacement revenue for diminishing state and local Motor Fuel Tax dollars.
• Eliminate the ability of using the Freedom of Information Act to monetize bodycam footage for entertainment.
• Increase the penalty for fleeing and eluding a police officer.
• Support electronic publication of statutorily maintained postings.
• Support municipal immunity from liability from cyberattacks.

tkenny@chicagotribune.com

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