Naperville City Council rejects request for medical spa on first floor of downtown building

While sympathizing with the proprietors of a proposed medical spa, Naperville City Council members still rejected their request to open a location on the first floor of a two-story downtown building.

Franchisees of Skinovatio Medical Spa appeared at Tuesday's council meeting to plead their case that the business would generate enough foot traffic and retail sales to merit a first-floor location.

Council members, however, sided with recommendations from city staff and planning and zoning commissioners and denied the appeal.

The proposed location, a former antique store at 133 S. Washington St., is in a specifically zoned downtown area that allows retail, eating and drinking establishments, and commercial services - such as beauty shops and salons - on the first floor to encourage patrons to linger and support surrounding businesses.

General services such as health spas are restricted to the second floor in that area. The Naperville Development Partnership and the Downtown Naperville Alliance also advised against allowing Skinovatio at that location.

Saad Zuberi, a petitioner with Fahad Zuberi, told council members if the business was not allowed, they'd suffer significant financial loss due to the five-year lease they signed and the investments they made. He expressed frustration that they weren't notified sooner regarding issues with the business model, even as they received a demolition permit from the city.

"Maybe you guys didn't do enough of your due diligence," Councilman Josh McBroom said. "But I feel like the city maybe shouldn't just hand out demo permits after the fact, and they spend $30,000, and they're out money. Maybe that process needs to be looked at."

Gabrielle Mattingly, a city planner, said at a recent planning and zoning meeting the demolition permit did not address the use of the space and concerns were raised when signage was proposed.

Zuberi said Skinovatio offered facials, massages, laser treatments and other services. He estimated up to 35% of the business would come from retail sales, but that wasn't enough to sway council members.

Allison Laff, deputy director of the city's transportation, engineering and development department, said the zoned area features businesses garnering at least 75% of their revenue from retail sales.

"I'm going to be in a lot of negative cash flow," Saad Zuberi said. "It's going to hurt us big-time. And it's going to hurt our brand because we've been marketing Naperville downtown."