Inver Grove Heights Council Revokes Golden Spa business and therapist licenses after police investigation

The Inver Grove Heights City Council on a unanimous motion adopted a resolution to revoke the business license for GIGI Enterprises d/b/a Golden Spa and later revoked the massage therapist license held by owner Yanjing Feng following a police compliance investigation into alleged unlicensed activity.

Sergeant Dane Winget of the Inver Grove Heights Police Department told the council the department received multiple complaints in November alleging unlawful activity at Golden Spa and that the chief building official reported the business was operating without a required certificate of occupancy. Winget said investigators found advertising for ‘futon’ and ‘forehand’ massages and that an undercover officer who booked a service on Dec. 10 was served by the licensed owner and an unidentified, unlicensed woman. “We confirmed that unlicensed massage was happening on December 12,” Winget said, and recommended the council hold hearings and consider revocation of the licenses under city code Title 4, Chapter 8 and Title 3, Chapter 2.

At the public hearing a friend of the owner, who identified herself as Sonan, asked the council to consider the full context and the owner’s language barriers. Sonan said the owner purchased the business without full knowledge of prior conditions, deleted the advertising for the disallowed service when she realized it was wrong and began working toward required permits. “She understands and respects the city's responsibility to protect public safety and uphold local laws,” Sonan said, asking for reconsideration.

Council members debated options including suspension versus revocation. The council referenced city code provisions discussed by the city attorney and staff, including a one‑year bar on reapplying after a revocation. The council first moved, seconded and carried a motion to adopt the resolution revoking the Golden Spa business license (roll call shows Belva, Scales, Murphy, Ducat and Dietrich recorded as voting Aye; motion carried). The council then held a separate public hearing on the therapist license and adopted a resolution revoking Yanjing Feng’s massage therapist license; the recorded roll call for that vote includes Murphy (Aye), Takach (No), Dietrich (Aye) and Cleaver (Aye), and the motion carried.

The revocations follow staff findings that the business conducted licensed activity in a manner that constituted a breach of the peace and a threat to public health, and that required conditions precedent to licensing were not being continuously met. The record shows staff recommended revocation; the council adopted the resolution with formal roll call votes. The council did not adopt any suspension or phased remediation in lieu of revocation at this meeting.

Next steps noted in the discussion: the city attorney pointed to the city code language that, if a license is revoked or denied, the applicant may not reapply for that license for one year from the date of revocation or denial. Any appeal or other administrative process available to the licensee was not described in detail in the meeting record.