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Board reviews draft ordinance to license 'bodywork' establishments, names mayor as enforcement commissioner
Summary
Staff presented a comprehensive draft licensing ordinance for 'bodywork' establishments (intended to cover massage parlors and similar services) with employee logs, inspection authority, fines, suspension and revocation, and a provision making the mayor the 'body works commissioner.' The ordinance would be retroactive and requires existing businesses to apply within 90 days.
Steve presented a draft ordinance to create a licensing program for bodywork establishments, saying the village lacked a licensing mechanism and that massage parlors can be treated as a nuisance under state law to enable local regulation. “So this ordinance basically establishes a licensing program,” Steve said, and added the provision is meant to complement, not supplant, state licensing requirements.
Steve explained the ordinance defines 'bodywork' broadly to capture businesses that might try to skirt rules and that the draft includes multiple exemptions so healthcare providers and state-licensed practitioners are not swept in. He said the licensing process would require an employee log to allow background checks and inspections: “By having a log of everybody, that means we're able to background check everybody works there, and then we're able to double check that log and make sure that nobody is working there that shouldn't be on that list.”
Under the draft, the mayor would serve as the 'body works commissioner' with authority to bring infractions to adjudication, impose fines, or pursue suspension and revocation. Steve described immediate closure authority when “there's evidence” and said that the mayor could close a business for a short period pending a hearing. Trustees expressed general support for the ordinance, asked whether the term 'bodywork' is legal terminology and discussed whether to limit the number of establishments.
The draft also includes provisions to notify and, in some cases, penalize property owners if the town can prove they knowingly allowed illegal conduct on their premises. Staff said the ordinance would be retroactive: existing businesses would have 90 days to apply for the license and then renew annually. The board did not take a recorded vote on the ordinance at this meeting; trustees asked staff to follow up on enforcement procedures and possible caps on the number of establishments.
