Little action from Regina massage parlours during six-month grace period - Regina Leader-Post

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The City of Regina says they expected more movement from massage parlours during the six-month grace period given to businesses to start complying with new regulations.


Author of the article:

Jennifer Ackerman

Publishing date:

Jun 07, 2021 • 11 minutes ago • 3 minute read •
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The six-month grace period is over and not a single body rub establishment in Regina has met the new zoning or licensing requirements. Photo by TROY FLEECE /Regina Leader-Post
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The six-month grace period is over and not a single body rub establishment (BREs) in Regina has met the new zoning or licensing requirements.

“Our expectation was that the businesses would have started relocating already within that six-month time frame,” said Dawn Schikowski, manager of licensing and parking services for the City of Regina in an interview Monday. “That is not what has occurred.”

In December 2019, city council chose to rezone BREs to industrial light (IL) and industrial heavy (IH) zones only as a discretionary use. In September 2020, city council approved mandatory licensing for BREs which came into effect in October 28, 2020.

Both decisions were reached after many hours of contentious debate at committee and council levels over whether an outright ban on BREs or regulation with a focus on protecting workers as well the integrity of Regina’s neighbourhoods was the right move.

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BREs were given six months starting Oct. 28, 2020 to come into compliance. During that time the city focused on education to encourage business owners to come into line with the bylaws as well as evidence gathering for future enforcement. As of Monday (a week after the grace period ended), none of the city’s 19 BREs had relocated or completed the process needed to get licensed under the new regulations, the first step of which is applying for a development permit. Schikowski says the city has so far received two applications, which have not been approved and is expecting a couple more in the next “short while.” If a permit application is approved, a formal license application would need to be submitted including proof of a completed education session and a certificate of approval from the Regina Police Service.

“We have procedures in place that prescribe the number and type of communications that must be completed prior to moving to the next step in enforcement,” she said. “Those businesses that still continue to not be compliant, we’ll continue to investigate and take further enforcement action.”

When asked why further investigation is needed if a business is clearly operating without a license or in the wrong zone — both clear bylaw violations — Schikowski said enforcement is a complex issue, which requires co-ordination between multiple city departments and the adherence to processes like the above. She said elaborating on the types of communications or timelines before concrete enforcement actions can be taken could jeopardize the effectiveness of their efforts.

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Come & Go massage parlour on the1300 block of Winnipeg Street in Regina. Photo by TROY FLEECE /Regina Leader-Post

Residents who live close to a BRE have reached out in the past six months and continue to with inquiries about what progress the city has made, what the effect the new regulations are and what will happen now that the grace period has passed. Schikowski said the residents who have reached out seem curious and anxious to see what happens.

As part of the education focus over the past six months the city developed and distributed pamphlets outlining the new zoning and licensing requirements as well as how to comply with them. The city continues to have conversations with the different businesses and work toward compliance.

“We haven’t developed a particular number of establishments or a length of time,” said Schikowski when asked if the city has goal for when they want to see this issue resolved. “But our goal certainly is to gain compliance and see that these businesses are either relocating to the appropriate area or closing down.”

Fines to businesses for non-compliance are a minimum of $2,000 up to a maximum of $25,000. For individuals, the minimum is $2,000 with a maximum of $10,000.

Anonymously, massage parlours have spoken out against regulating the industry assuring residents and lawmakers that they are hardworking business people, not human traffickers, and that the cost to comply with the new bylaws would be an unfair burden.

— with files from Alec Salloum

jackerman@postmedia.com

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