Chicago Aldermen Consider Massage Parlor Ordinance

Chicago - A crackdown on prostitutes masquerading as massage therapists was massaged Monday to avoid putting legitimate operators out of business.

After a barrage of complaints from hairdressers, nail salons and health clubs, the City Council's Zoning Committee on Monday watered-down the ordinance championed by Ald. Ray Suarez (31st).

Suarez original version would have prohibited massage services from being offered on neighborhood business strips. They would have been limited to areas with commercial zoning designations, allowing car dealers, gas stations and other heavy business uses.

The new version will allow massage services on most neighborhood business strips provided operators obtain signatures from area residents and a special use permit from the Zoning Board of Appeals.

Suarez proposed the change after going to court to revoke the license of an illegal sex parlor in the 2200 block of North Cicero that, he claimed, was pretending to be a massage parlor.

On Monday, he acknowledged that he may have gone a bit too far.

"I've gotten a lot of e-mails. Some of these folks are telling me that, [in commercial districts], you've got to have parking. I don't want to stop anybody who's a legitimate operator," Suarez said.

Massage therapists were not appeased by the retreat.

"Any kind of ordinance that puts a condition on where a massage establishment can open suggests that there's something illicit about massage therapy," said Celia Bucci, Illinois secretary of the American Massage Therapy Association.

Instead of imposing zoning restrictions on all massage services, the city should rein in the bad actors, said massage therapist Rebecca Grimwade.

"Within walking distance of my house, there are five places. Eleven o'clock at night, the open sign is blinking. There needs to be more of an investigation against these shady places and not just moving them around into different zoning," she said.

The parade of aldermen lobbying for the watered-down version was led by downtown Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd), whose ward is home to "many dozens" of health clubs and salons that "rely heavily" on massage therapy.

"I've always taken the approach downtown that, if there's an unwanted business, work to deal with that individual concern rather than [impose] blanket policies," Reilly said.