Sandy Springs approves massage, zoning changes

The Sandy Springs City Council Tuesday night approved a tightening-up of its massage ordinance, allowing the city to declare massage businesses with legal or regulatory issues a public nuisance. That would allow the city to seek an injunction or other court remedy to shut them down.

City officials said that in the past, cited businesses would change ownership and continue to operate in the same location. The changes will allow city legal officials to target the owners of the property on which the businesses sit. They also spell out that the city doesn’t need to prove special injury or that there’s no adequate remedy under the law to seek an injunction.

The council also approved a reduction in the number of zoning cases processed for the city planning commission from a maximum of seven per month to no more than five. Officials said that was needed because the number of applications and their complexity are increasing, and because planning commissioners and the city council are busy writing a new comprehensive plan and city zoning code.