{"id":527942,"date":"2010-04-14T18:27:59","date_gmt":"2010-04-14T22:27:59","guid":{"rendered":"tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c60fd53ef0133ecb11bac970b"},"modified":"2010-04-14T18:27:59","modified_gmt":"2010-04-14T22:27:59","slug":"council-balks-at-massage-parlor-ordinance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/527942","title":{"rendered":"Council balks at massage parlor ordinance"},"content":{"rendered":"

Posted by Hal Dardick and John Byrne<\/em> at 5:30 p.m.<\/p>\n

Facing opposition from licensed massage therapists and business interests, the City Council today balked at approving a measure that would have prevented the opening of massage establishments on blocks that are mostly residential.
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<\/br>Ald. Ray Suarez, 31st, had proposed the ordinance, citing his concern over prostitution businesses masquerading as massage establishments. He said he had trouble with such a situation in his ward.
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<\/br>Ald. Joe Moore, 49th, however, said he had heard from many massage therapists opposed to the ordinance.<\/p>\n

<\/br>\u201cThis is a legitimate business, and they have a right to operate a legitimate business without going through undo hurdles,\u201d Moore said, saying the proposed ordinance was too broad. \u201cI think it\u2019s like swatting a mosquito with a fly sledgehammer….There are enough regulations on business in this city.\u201d
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<\/br>Ald. Mary Ann Smith, 48th, said she supported delaying a final vote on the ordinance because it would create a burden for the physical therapy businesses that are proliferating in her North Side ward.
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<\/br>"Perhaps it’s an indication of the fact our population is aging that suddenly we have a physical therapy operations in our neighborhood that are very, very highly recommended," Smith said.
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<\/br>Smith termed the proposed ordinance "ridiculous."
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<\/br>The Lincoln Park Chamber of Commerce, the Illinois Chapter of the American Massage Therapy Association and the nationwide Massage Envy chain all opposed the ordinance, saying it would damage the livelihood of licensed massage therapists.
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<\/br>\u201cIt\u2019s effect will be to jeopardize a licensed element of Chicago\u2019s business community that provides quality, well-paying jobs and a sought-after service in almost all of Chicago\u2019s 50 wards,\u201d said Tracy Smodilla of the Massage Therapy Association.
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<\/br>A better approach, she said, would be to have all massage establishments to submit proof they have state licenses. She also said the ordinance will affect businesses like salons that offer massage therapy as an added service.
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<\/br>\u201cNot only is this ordinance unnecessary, but it does not specifically address one of the key issues it is set out to stop,\u201d said Kim Schilf, president and CEO of the Lincoln Park chamber. \u201cMassage parlors are licensed, taxpaying businesses in Chicago and deserve the support of the community.\u201d
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<\/br>The proposed ordinance would ban massage parlors in confined business districts that essentially serve the surrounding neighborhoods. They will be allowed in areas that have more commercial development. A council committee had recommended approval<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Posted by Hal Dardick and John Byrne at 5:30 p.m. Facing opposition from licensed massage therapists and business interests, the City Council today balked at approving a measure that would have prevented the opening of massage establishments on blocks that are mostly residential.Ald. Ray Suarez, 31st, had proposed the ordinance, citing his concern over prostitution […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3992,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-527942","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/527942","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3992"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=527942"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/527942\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=527942"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=527942"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=527942"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}