Algonquin to regulate massage parlors

After employees of massage parlors in Algonquin were charged with prostitution in three undercover operations last year, village officials are taking steps to license and regulate such businesses.

A proposed ordinance spells out the new rules — such as what clothes employees can wear and where they can touch their customers — and gives the village manager authority to suspend or revoke an establishment’s license or close it down based on violations.

The village board is expected to approve the new ordinance at its meeting Tuesday.

“Part of the problem is that state of Illinois took over the licensing of massage therapists,” Police Chief Russell Laine said. “We didn’t have anything in place, we didn’t license the establishments. We were not able to go in and close them once we found illegal activity.”

Under the proposed ordinance, massage establishments cannot serve as sleeping quarters or have a full kitchen. Their storefront windows cannot be opaque.

Employees and massage therapists must wear nontransparent clothes, and both the employees’ and the clients’ private parts must be fully covered. The ordinance also spells out rules of conduct between employees and clients.

In January 2010, an employee of the former Massage Co., in the 4000 block of West Algonquin Road, was arrested by the North Central Narcotics Task Force and charged with prostitution. The business later changed its name to Nature Spa, Deputy Police Chief Ed Urban said.

On Nov. 12, an employee of World Health Spa, in the 1400 block of West Algonquin Road, was arrested by Algonquin police and charged with prostitution, Urban said.

On Nov. 22, Algonquin police arrested an employee of Nature Spa on a prostitution charge, he said. The business has since closed.

Laine said all the arrests took place after police received complaints of illegal activity. The new ordinance has “strong support” from several professional, legitimate massage parlors in Algonquin, he said.