BC adult business rules may exempt massage therapists - Battle Creek Enquirer

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Battle Creek City Hall(Photo: Enquirer file)


Battle Creek city commissioners will vote on whether to make changes that would no longer classify licensed massage therapists as an adult business.

An introduction vote for the ordinance — the first of two steps needed to change the law — is scheduled for the commission's regular meeting Tuesday. It comes after the city postponed action on whether to ban adult businesses, such as strip clubs and book stores, from operating on a portion of Dickman Road.

BATTLE CREEK ENQUIRER

City may ban adult businesses from Dickman


Massage therapists who are licensed by the state of Michigan but do not work in a hospital, nursing home, medical clinic or other related types of offices are not exempt from the city's ordinance regulating adult businesses. The ordinance was enacted in 1987, according to a staff memo, more than 20 years before the state created a licensing requirement for massage therapists.

City Manager Rebecca Fleury's office has recommended the ordinance be introduced.

►RELATED: Final vote on adult business ban for Dickman postponed

Under current rules, licensed massage therapists are required to operate in parts of the city that are zoned as intensive business and light industrial districts. They must be 1,000 feet from another adult business, churches, schools or public parks, and 300 feet from a residential district or agricultural use.

Adult businesses are prohibited from operating within the Fort Custer Industrial Park — and, if approved by city commissioners at a later date, could be banned in the Dickman Road Business Improvement District, which consists of the Magnificent Motor Mile.

►MORE: Read the city's proposed adult businesses ordinance here

Earlier this month, commissioners voted 5-3 to introduce the ordinance to ban the businesses from Dickman following a request by the BID's board that sought to preserve the street's cluster of similar and "family-friendly" businesses. The board includes representatives from car dealerships and other businesses located within the district.

Last week, Assistant City Manager Ted Dearing told the Enquirer the final adoption vote had been postponed to allow staff to provide commissioners more information about related zoning rules.

No adult businesses operate on Dickman. Dearing said business owners heard a "persistent rumor" that an adult business may locate on the block between Washington Avenue and Kendall Street.

Contact Jennifer Bowman at 269-966-0589 or jbowman@battlecreekenquirer.com. Follow her on Twitter: @jenn_bowman. Hear the podcast she co-hosts, The Jump Page, at soundcloud.com/enquirerpodcasting.

Also on the agenda


City commissioners also are expected on Tuesday to cast votes on the following:

A resolution that would enter into a new employment agreement with City Attorney Jill Steele, raising her annual base salary to $114,146 from $110,822.

Selling vacant public land next to Shouldice Brothers, 182 Elm St., to Shovan Development LLC for $517. The property is subject to taxes right now because there is no public use. It will be used by Shouldice to expand its business operations.

A one-year, $3,375 lease agreement between the city and My Style Your Style at 80 W. Michigan Ave. The property previously was occupied by Fancy Nancy's Boutique.

Selling nearly 38 acres of vacant city-owned residential land on 6 Mile Road in Newton Township to Scott and Trina Niecko for $191,000. The property was listed in early spring for $228,000; the city expects about $170,000 in net proceeds, which will go toward Binder Park Golf Course finances.

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