Island Lake adopts rules for massage parlors
Island Lake massage parlors must get municipal licenses and follow rules designed to prevent prostitution under newly adopted regulations.
The move follows a summertime prostitution arrest at Island Spa, a massage parlor at 644 State Road, Building Commissioner Wayne Schnell said. It's also a response to arrests at spas in other suburbs, Schnell said.
Schnell said he's been warned by police elsewhere that criminals who run prostitution operations may be eying Island Lake.
"It seems like an organized system; they prey on smaller towns," Schnell said.
The village board approved the license procedure and business rules Thursday night.
According to the ordinance, license applications must include the name and address of the property owner, criminal histories of the applicant and any partners, and personal details about employees, among other information.
The new ordinance also insists therapists must be fully clothed and that customers must keep their genitals covered when with employees.
Sexual contact is forbidden, too.
The license fee is $200, and licenses last for two years. License renewals also will cost $200.
Licenses can be suspended or revoked for violations of the rules. Violations also can result in fines ranging from $400 to $1,000 for each offense.
"We don't want to give the community any type of impression that we condone any of these (illegal) things that are going on," Mayor Charles Amrich said before the meeting. "We want to have some control over it."
Existing businesses offering massages must comply with the regulations and licensing process, too. They'll have 45 days to comply.
Governmental agencies, nursing homes, physical therapy offices, chiropractors and medical offices that offer massages for treatment are exempt.
Prostitution arrests at suburban massage parlors aren't uncommon. Employees at spas in Fox Lake, South Elgin, Bartlett, Geneva, St. Charles and other towns have been targeted by police in the last year.
Lake in the Hills adopted regulations for massage parlors in 2015. St. Charles took a similar step in 2014.