MESA, AZ -- Several businesses are shutting down, because the City and police are cracking down on massage parlors over prostitution concerns.
"I take care of the elderly, and it's kind of hard or astonishing to have something next to you and try to keep a reputable business going," said Mesa resident Jesse Martin, who is in favor of stricter regulations.
City council member David Richins said Mesa had virtually deregulated the massage industry over the past decade, which is why so many massage businesses sprang up.
Police say there are as many parlors in Mesa as there are in all of Phoenix. But now, they're working with the City to do something about it.
Legitimate massage therapists like K.C. Miller, founder and director of the Southwest Institute of Healing Arts, support tighter regulations, even though it means they will have to jump through more hoops.
"When someone mentions prostitution, it makes us just cringe," said Miller.
Richins said the new regulations would include requiring that the rooms inside the massage businesses be laid out in a way that is not conducive to illegal activity, not allowing blacked-out windows, mandating that an owner or manager is always present, and better enforcing that therapists' pictures and licenses are on display.
"Do we want to have bios," said Miller. "Do we want to feel like we're the criminals? No. But if that's what it takes to be able to clean out the industry, we'll do that."
Miller said the therapists have to undergo 700 hours of training at a licensed school, and renew their credentials every two years with more training. It's a lot of work for a industry that has gotten a bad rap from seedy businesses.
"It should be seen as a high level health care service, and not something dirty or degrading or something you would hide behind," said Miller.
Martin agreed.
"It should be a little bit more stringent, a little stronger, like the ones in Phoenix or surrounding areas," he said. "If everyone else around town has to abide by them, whey can't we do it?"
The council is scheduled to vote on the regulations Dec. 7.
