At a time when massage-therapy franchises are knocking on suburban doors, Elk Grove Village Mayor Craig Johnson said he no longer wants to take any chances with the booming profession.Nanny.
Troubled by two recent incidents of alleged illicit activity, Johnson plans Tuesday to ask the Village Board to ban establishments that offer only massages, limiting the treatments to such locations as a hotel, spa or health club.
"We don't have a good track record for just massage therapy," Johnson said. "I'd rather err on the side of caution."
Throughout Chicago's suburbs, officials increasingly are receiving pitches from massage franchises to open salons, which run head-on into long-standing concerns about old-style parlors and links to prostitution. Some communities are putting the proposed businesses under extra scrutiny. Others are tweaking zoning ordinances over concerns about illicit behavior.
Among the suburbs prohibiting massage-only establishments are Lisle and Arlington Heights.
Nationally, communities such as Santa Ana, Calif., have a moratorium on new massage-related business permits as city laws are updated after raids on parlors in nearby communities.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Chicago Suburbs distrustful of massage businesses
The Chicago Tribune reports:
