Massage parlors rub LV Council the wrong way

Diana Sahagun

Monday, April 1, 2002 | 11 a.m.

Alarmed by the rapid increase in massage establishments in Las Vegas, the City Council will consider halting all new applications while it drafts new rules to keep the businesses from setting up in residential areas.

The council on Wednesday is scheduled to consider a 90- to 120-day moratorium on new licenses to give it time to write new rules and establish stricter penalties.

Council members Lynette Boggs McDonald and Michael McDonald have voiced concern over the increase of massage establishments along several major streets in their wards and over two questionable applications that came before the council in February.

In one case a potential owner of a massage establishment on Sahara Avenue at Arville Street wanted permission to stay open until 3 a.m. McDonald, who represents the area, questioned the hours, to which the applicant replied that she catered to casino workers who work non-traditional shifts.

The second application was for a new massage establishment on Lake East Drive in The Lakes area, whose owner wanted to stay open 24 hours.

The council approved both licenses, but not the requests to stay open past normal business hours.

Boggs McDonald said the applications sent up a "red flag," adding to her concerns over the proliferation of the businesses along Sahara Avenue and Charleston Boulevard.

"My first concern was that we have nothing really on the books, as we sit here today, that would prevent an entire strip mall to be turned into just a series of independent massage parlors," she said.

Jim DiFiore, the city's director of business licensing, said in January 2001 there were 48 massage establishments licensed in Las Vegas, and 24 new businesses were added within one year.

In addition, 125 new independent massage therapist licenses were approved between January 2001 and January 2002.

Massage establishments can be located in any commercial area, and the owners are required to undergo a background check, DiFiore said. Independent massage therapists generally use their home address for their business, but they are not allowed to operate out of their homes.

Boggs McDonald, who also backed rules to keep entertainment and escort services out of residential areas, said several options can be considered, including a separation of a certain distance between massage establishments and residential areas, tougher licensing requirements and preventing the businesses from clustering.

The councilwoman said it is critical to keep massage establishments from encroaching in residential areas, because Metro Police has uncovered some businesses as fronts for prostitution.

If a massage establishment owner is arrested in the city for an act of prostitution, a Metro report is forwarded to the city's business licensing division, which can revoke the license upon a conviction.

The last time a business license was suspended in the city was February 2001, DiFiore said. The license was ultimately revoked for the owner's conviction for soliciting an act of prostitution.

"These are often fronts for prostitution rings, so we want to make sure that we are creating whatever mechanisms possible to make sure these are honest, law-abiding businesses," Boggs McDonald said.