The following article appeared in the September 28 edition of the Guelph Mercury:
City staff are still at work on a bylaw that will offer stringent regulations for body rub parlours, although it may take until the end of the year before council sees a draft.
But at least one councillor says the delay will be worth it, especially if the bylaw is effective in controlling the number of adult-massage parlours cropping up in the city.
Councillor Vicki Beard, who sits on the committee that suggested the bylaw revision, said it’s important city staff take steps to ensure other legitimate health care practitioners — massage therapists and aromatherapists — aren’t erroneously caught up in any bylaw change.
“We’re not going after that type of business,” she said. “There’s a world of difference between them and what the body-rub parlours are actually offering.”
Beard added that it’s important to look toward other municipalities and learn from their experience in regulating erotic-massage parlours.
“If you licence them, you have control over them — and that’s what we need,” she said. “They have to be accessible for bylaw officers. Without body-rub parlours under a bylaw, there’s nothing we can do to shut them down if they’re doing something they shouldn’t be doing.”
In May, council approved a motion to create a separate category in the city’s business licence bylaw for body-rub parlours.
Coun. Maggie Laidlaw said at the time the aim was to develop regulations so strict that parlour owners would be discouraged from operating in the city. She also said she would like to see a system in place by the fall.
Laidlaw was not immediately available for comment yesterday.
In 2004, city council voted against including adult-massage parlours in its business licence bylaw and instead created a category for owners of alternative health-care clinics.
At the time, there was one known adult-massage parlour and two alternative health-care clinics suspected of offering erotic services. That number has increased to nine suspected body-rub parlours, according to a May staff report.
In 2005, council amended a zoning bylaw to define body-rub parlours, but did not permit their use in any zone.
In the May report, city staff suggested enacting rules for body-rub parlours that would not impact legitimate alternative health-care providers.
Those regulations could include:
Attire for attendants
Operating hours
Obtaining police clearance and criminal record checks
Obtaining annual medical examinations for communicable diseases
Tina Agnello, deputy city clerk, said three meetings have been held with city staff and community stakeholders and the draft bylaw schedules are being circulated among them.
“If everyone’s on the same page, we’ll move forward,” she said.
The bylaw is expected to be presented to the committee and council by the end of the year.
Agnello said when it goes to the emergency services, community services and operations committee, there will be an opportunity for public delegations.
The change to the business-licence bylaw is expected to cost the city $106,000 per year — the amount needed to compensate an additional bylaw enforcement officer and a part-time administrative position.
The city will be able to recoup some of that money through licensing fees and fines.