Springboro council blocks new massage businesses

UPDATE @ 7:45 p.m. (April 21): A moratorium will block new massage businesses in Springboro at least 90 days, city council said tonight in approving a resolution.

“This is really a result of what is happening in other communities in our region,” City Manager Chris Thompson said.

In recent months, other communities, including Fairfield and Montgomery, have brought criminal charges — including prostitution — against employees of massage businesses.

Springboro has two storefront massage parlors, as well as a licensed message therapist who operates from her home and is licensed by the state.

City Law Director Alan Schaeffer said the regulations would “cover not only the existing establishments but any new establishments.”

The regulations are expected to enable the city to license all businesses offering massages and their employees.

City staff is expected to use regulations developed in other communities between Dayton and Cincinnati to form the local rules, before ending the moratorium.

On Thursday, Mason officials said they were also developing regulations in response to problems in the area.

FIRST REPORT (April 20)

Springboro has joined area cities trying to control the opening and operation of massage businesses in the area.

Springboro city council on Thursday is expected to consider a 90-day moratorium on the opening of new businesses offering massages, while developing local regulations for new and existing ones.

Police Chief Jeff Kruithoff said the regulations were related to the opening of a second storefront massage parlor.

In November, a woman was charged with prostitution after a police sting on a massage parlor in Montgomery, a suburb north of Cincinnati.

“Frankly this is an industry that has had problems around the country,” Kruithoff said, while adding the local massage businesses on Main Street and Central Avenue have generated no complaints.

Kruithoff pointed to Olmsted Falls, west of Cleveland as a city with effective massage parlor regulations.

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