EATONTOWN – Eatontown Mayor Anthony Talerico is hoping to craft “the toughest ordinance that is still lawful” to regulate where massage parlors may be permitted in town.
During a workshop meeting on Oct. 9, while no formal action was taken, the council discussed potential zoning modifications for a future ordinance that will permit where a massage parlor may open in town.
At a prior meeting in September, the Eatontown Borough Council introduced an ordinance that would, if adopted, amend the regulations a business owner must comply with to operate a massage, bodywork or holistic therapy business in town.
Officials said the amended regulations would serve to ensure that only licensed services are provided at those businesses. They said the amended ordinance would further prevent possible illicit activities such as prostitution and human trafficking.
During the discussion on the potential zoning modifications, Business Administrator Cherron Rountree said the borough’s finance and ordinance committee has agreed that massage parlors should be at least 1,000 feet apart from one another.
This change in zoning would not affect existing massage parlors in town, Rountree said.
Borough Attorney Gene Anthony said the modification is “less restrictive than that of (regulating) adult entertainment” because suggestion did not take into account the distance massage parlors should be from establishments such as schools, bus stops and churches.
“I was hoping we could also look at how far it should be from (residential areas),” Mayor Anthony Talerico said, adding that such establishments should not be near “youth oriented businesses.”
Talerico asked the council if they would like to further amend the zoning modification.
“(Massage parlors) 1,000 feet apart from each other doesn’t really do a whole lot to protect citizens and children.” councilman Greg Loxton said. Loxton then asked Anthony about the state statute which pertains to adult entertainment.
Talerico asked Anthony if the 1,000 foot modification would apply to retail chain establishments such as Massage Envy. He said, “(Let’s say) Massage Envy comes in. They want to open up right next door to, dare I say, an illegitimate one. Are they allowed to?” Talerico asked Gene.
Gene said “no.” He said the establishment would need to go before the zoning board with their request to open shop next to an existing massage parlor.
“I would like to see a legitimate massage place come to the zoning board and probably get an approval,” Talerico said. “I don’t think a legitimate company is going to go the zoning board and get a variance for opening up a massage parlor in Eatontown. I would be OK putting in these extra (modifications) because a legitimate company would come in.
“It’s better to slow down the legitimate company’s from coming right in, go to the zoning board with that extra hurdle, then to have this (ordinance) so wide open that an illegitimate company could go virtually anywhere because 1,000 feet is pretty weak,” Talerico said.
Story asked who would determine if a massage establishment is legitimate or not.
Gene said that would be the responsibility of the town’s zoning board.
Talerico said that restricting massage establishment to be at least 1,000 feet apart from one another is “a good start.” He said the council should also take into account how close schools, houses of worship, recreation facilities and bus stops should be to such establishments.
“I am quite sure that if Massage Envy comes in with their power point presentation advertising opening a Massage Envy that any zoning board would look more favorably on that then the guy that comes in with (a picture) of a neon flashing light, curtains drawn all the way to the ground and double locked doors,” Talerico said.
Councilwoman Christine Caruso, who was appointed to the governing body last month, said the restrictions Talerico was suggesting are “unreasonable.”
“My gym has a spa in it and it’s a legitimate business,” Caruso said. “… I would be supportive of what the committee recommended.”
“To put requirements in that ensure (massage establishments) are qualified I think does the community a good service as opposed to worrying about litigation that may come up,” Loxton said. “ … I’m very much in favor of restricting this but giving those businesses the ability to come to the zoning board to present themselves.”
Gene said he will provide the council with the state statute which regulates adult entertainment “so (the council) can get a feeling of other people have done.”
“We don’t have a consensus to only follow the recommendation, so the question is, do we do nothing or do we go further?” Talerico said.
Talerico said that Anthony could create an ordinance only requiring that massage parlors must be at least 1,000 feet apart from one another. Or, Talerico said, a memorandum with other recommendations could be provided before the ordinance is written.
The council chose to explore additional restrictions before the ordinance is written and introduced. The next meeting of the governing body will be held on Oct. 23.