Batavia postpones vote on massage business permit
Batavia aldermen said they've postponed giving a massage business permission to open downtown due to concerns about the legitimacy of the owner's massage license and whether the business would be a front for prostitution and portal for human trafficking.
The committee of the whole voted unanimously Tuesday to postpone a city council vote indefinitely.
The committee last week recommended a conditional-use permit to Yune Zhou to open Sunshine Massage at 11 E. Wilson St. According to Zhou's application, she lives in Springfield, is licensed by the state, and has 10 years of experience in the United States and China.
After newspaper reports about the vote, Alderman Marty Callahan said some residents contacted him to complain. Some said the address listed on Zhou's license was not a home address, but that of a business in Springfield that is listed on websites for places to receive "adult" or sexual, services.
A half-dozen massage therapists told aldermen Tuesday they are worried about the growth of such places in the area. Two places they consider dubious have opened in Batavia in the last 18 months, they said, including one that keeps its doors locked during business hours and requests patrons ring a doorbell to obtain entrance. That business is also listed on adult-oriented websites.
" 'Ring for service' is not the same as 'by appointment only,' and is not professional," said Lurana Bain of Batavia, a licensed therapist.
Another cited the Human Trafficking Freedom Coalition of Northern Illinois website, which says some massage parlors and strip clubs in the Chicago area have been fronts for the sex trade.
Until last year, massage was an allowed use at downtown businesses. The city council changed the zoning law to require businesses obtain a conditional-use permit to offer massage with existing businesses grandfathered in.
Sunshine Massage would have had to meet several conditions set by the council, including keeping an unobstructed view into the business. However, only the foot- and hand-massage area would have been visible, according to the application. Massages for the rest of the body would take place in other rooms.
City administrators and city attorney Kevin Drendel are investigating what other steps Batavia could take to discourage illicit activity, such as licensing massage businesses. St. Charles licenses businesses, as does North Chicago. In North Chicago, the city requires therapists to obtain a city permit, requires them to be tested annually for diseases, and prohibits therapists from massaging people of the opposite sex unless a prescription has been presented.