New massage parlors will need special permission to open in Chicago
Posted by John Byrne at 4:40 p.m.
Massage parlors will require special permits to open in residential business districts under a plan aimed at curbing prostitution that the City Council approved today.
Ald. Ray Suarez’s measure passed by a vote of 30-8, with some aldermen opposed on the grounds the ordinance makes it too difficult for legitimate massage parlors to open and doesn’t really stop prostitution.
Suarez, 31st, had introduced a plan to ban the parlors in neighborhood shopping districts, but scaled it back in the face of strong opposition from massage organizations.
But Ald. Brian Doherty, 41st, said it would make more sense to go after the prostitution fronts more aggressively, rather than create zoning exceptions he said would lead to a needless level of bureaucracy.
Existing massage parlors are grandfathered into their current locations, regardless of zoning.
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