Spring Hill Mall massage parlor to keep West Dundee business license — with restrictions -...

[massage]

A Spring Hill Mall massage parlor will remain open but the owner must pay a $750 fine and comply with several conditions in order to keep his West Dundee business license, a village commission ruled Monday.

If Hong Chao Zhang, owner of The Relax Place, fails to meet the Business Licensing Commission’s mandates, “we’re going to find ourselves back in this hearing room,” West Dundee Mayor Chris Nelson said.

A March customer complaint prompted a police investigation in which it was found the business violated several rules, including having five therapists working without valid state licenses, employees working without a supervisor present and allowing someone under the age of 18 to be in a massage room.

Zhang told village officials he could operate without state licenses because he had an exemption from the National Organization for Asian Bodywork, which provided certificates for his employees.


According to Illinois statute, “practitioners of Asian bodywork approaches” are exempt if they are members of the American Organization of Bodywork Therapies of Asia, which certifies practitioners, or if they are approved by an Asian bodywork organization based on a minimum level of training, demonstration of competency and adherence to ethical standards set by the organization.

On Monday, commission members agreed to dismiss the charge.

“The statute provides if there is a massage therapist, it needs a state license. But there are 20 different exemptions, and Asian bodywork is an exemption,” village attorney Jim Binninger said. “That’s something that we’re going to be talking about in the future here to update our ordinance.”

Going forward, however, The Relax Place must separate the portion of the clinic used for massages from the area where Asian bodywork is performed. Massages can only be given by a state-licensed therapist, the commission said.


“(Asian bodywork specialists must) have to have their Asian bodywork certification and there would be no massages which would require the removal of clothing,” Binninger said. “They’ll be subdividing that unit into two business licenses, one for the clinic and the second, more up front, for the Asian bodywork with clothes on, which is exempt from the state act.”

As for the third citation, Binninger recommended — and commissioners agreed — that no one under the age of 18 can receive a massage at The Relax Place if they’re not accompanied by a parent or legal guardian.

The fine assessed is “to cover the village’s cost and impose some penalty of violations,” Binninger said.

Erin Sauder is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.


Let's block ads! (Why?)