Slidell City Council considering measure to regulate massage parlors - The Advocate

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When Slidell police conducted a sting operation on three massage parlors in April, accusing four women of prostitution by massage, city officials immediately placed a moratorium on any new massage establishments.

Now, as that moratorium is about to lift, the officials are considering new rules aimed at putting massage parlors out of business if they're not providing legitimate, therapeutic massages.

Slidell police make arrests at massage parlors following undercover operation

The Slidell City Council proposed an ordinance this week that would require any business offering massages to prove that its employees providing that service have a state license to do so.

Under the ordinance, police as well as employees with the city's Planning and Permits Department and Code Enforcement office would be authorized to enter businesses offering massages to confirm that employees have state licenses and a city occupational license for massage therapy.

Anyone discovered to be in violation of the city ordinance or state law would be ordered to cease and desist and could face a fine of $100 to $1,000 and up to six months in jail.

Businesses that violate the ordinance more than once in a calendar year would lose their occupational license and wouldn't be able to get it back without written authorization from the mayor.

The proposed ordinance also limits the operations' hours to between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m.

The City Council did not discuss the measure at its meeting Tuesday, but Police Chief Randy Fandal said that police would continue to keep tabs on the businesses for potential criminal violations as well.

The measure will be voted on at the Nov. 27 council meeting, just days before the moratorium expires on Nov. 30.

Slidell City Council puts moratorium on new massage parlors after prostitution arrests

The sting operation last spring came after numerous resident complaints, Fandal said. One business owner whose shop was in the same strip mall as a massage parlor said at the time that she had found a used condom and a package labeled "herbal viagra" on the ground outside her front door one morning.

The businesses where the police sting took place weren't shuttered. In fact, the week after undercover officers posing as customers arrested women at the parlors, Relax Therapy Massage, Super Relax Massage and To the Moon and Back Massage were still serving customers.


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