Lawrenceville moves to regulate massage services
Lawrenceville may soon become the latest Atlanta-area city to pass tougher regulations on massage services.
This week the Lawrenceville City Council took the first step toward approving a new law putting stricter limits on massage businesses within the city. The council is slated to hold its final vote on the measure next month.
The Lawrenceville City Council approved a nine-month moratorium on the issuance of massage therapy licenses in August.
The move is not a response to any specific incident and was part of a larger rewriting of city codes, Mayor Judy Jordan Johnson said.
The Lawrenceville law is modeled on one enacted in nearby Duluth in 2012 which limits the number of massage therapy businesses in the city, requires each massage business to post a price list for all services provided and bars any services not included on that list.
Duluth was following the lead of Sandy Springs, Doraville, Loganville and other cities in their attempt to regulate businesses that many political leaders, law enforcement authorities and residents believe to be fronts for prostitution and sex trafficking.
After Duluth approved its new regulations, the city suspended or revoked licenses for five massage parlors as part of a renewed effort to regulate adult-oriented businesses.
Opponents of the Duluth ordinance have 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.
