Regina City Council has zoned body rub parlours to have permitted use in the city’s industrial areas.
This comes after calls for an outright ban from some members of the public. Those calls were answered by anonymous statements from body rub parlour operators and owners stating there is an unfair stigma attached to their industry.
Mayor Michael Fougere said he doesn’t buy the theory this would be the ban council didn’t pass the first time.
“I think that we will have them in industrial areas, that’s where it’s going to be, and I think we’ll look at next time hopefully will be how far those buffers will be, whether it be one block or two blocks,” Fougere said. “I think it’s the decision of council, it works in other cities, and it will work in Regina as well.”
Fougere said while three body rub parlour operators presented to council through a representative, members of council still have questions about the industry.
“We could ask, and talk more about what’s actually happening within their industry,” Fougere said. “(Shayna) Stock represented them well, but she really can’t speak on their behalf, and she said she couldn’t do that.”
Fougere said the rest of the body rub parlours will either need to comply or close.
“We will be looking at each one to see if it does follow the bylaw, if it doesn’t we will be looking to have them move effective (immediately),” Fougere said. “Particularly on Victoria Avenue, we have a couple right next to residential, and that’s actually against a current bylaw before we passed (this one), so they should be certainly looking to move out of there.”
However, council’s decision on this isn’t quite done. A referral motion will return to council at a future meeting on distance between body rub parlours and schools, residential properties, and churches.
