Duluth has suspended or revoked licenses for five massage parlors as part of a renewed effort to regulate the adult-oriented businesses.
The City Council held its first appeal hearings for massage parlors Monday, about a month after making sweeping changes to the city's existing laws governing the businesses to slow down their proliferation and to better ensure the qualifications of massage therapists.
"The change in the ordinance in May was when we sent the message," Duluth Councilman Billy Jones said. "[Monday] we just followed through. This is a positive first step."
Opponents of the new ordinance said it lacked clarity and unfairly lumped real practitioners of massage therapy with those windowless storefronts and shops with neon signs and largely male clientele.
"I don't want our reputation hurt because of what others do," said Tai Ji Massage owner Daniel Allen, who was fined $2,000 and forced to close his business for 14 days for having incomplete customer records and failure to maintain an employee registry.
"You can tell by the attitude of the [council] that they don't want massage in the city," Allen said.
The first massage parlor to close, Tong Tong at 3294 Peachtree Industrial Blvd., is the one that launched the resident-led effort to force the businesses out of town. Tong Tong's owners didn't appear at Monday's hearing because they accepted revocation of the parlor's business license and withdrew their appeal.
Tong Tong is unable to apply for another license because the city, as part of its new law, has imposed a limit of three massage parlors per 10,000 residents -- or seven total for the city of 26,000. The parlor was the site of a shootout between police officers and a pair of armed robbers in late November.
"That place was terrible and needed to close," said Greg Stewart, who lives in a nearby neighborhood. "But n0body believed it would happen this fast."
Another massage parlor, Nukoa Day Spa, accepted a 30-day suspension of its license and withdrew its appeal. The owner told council members that he planned to dissolve the business and leave the city.
Most of the appeals centered on administrative violations, including failure to maintain a registry of licensed massage therapists on staff and a list of customers that includes names, addresses, telephone numbers and dates of service. Chinese Therapeutic was cited for those violations and keeping its doors locked while performing massages during business hours; it received a 30-day suspension.
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