City Moves Forward with Massage Licensing Ordinance

In an attempt to crackdown on alleged prostitution, the city is moving forward with crafting an ordinance to bring the licensing of massage parlors under its control.

The issue came to the forefront after employees at , but

The city council approved a resolution presented by council president Robert Maiocco last week that asks for the city to create an ordinance to bring more local control over massage parlors and spas.

Since then, City Solicitor Mark Rumley has written an ordinance that would require massage businesses to be licensed by the city and could give the city power to shut establishments for violations.

The proposed ordinance still needs to be reviewed by Police Chief Leo Sacco and Health Department director Karen Rose. Rumley presented a draft of the ordinance to the city council Tuesday night.

The state's Consumer Affairs Division of Professional Licensure oversees licensing all massage businesses in the state. But its staff is too small and scope of responsibility is too wide, Maiocco said Tuesday.

"We see this problem not only in the city of Medford, but all over the Commonwealth," Maiocco said.