Massage regulations approved in Hawthorne

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An ordinance creating regulations of massage establishments in the borough was introduced by the Hawthorne Council at the March 6 meeting to keep in line with new state regulations.
Borough Attorney Michael Pasquale said the ordinance is in part a response to the arrests made at In Spa last year when an employee was arrested on charges of prostitution. He said also that NJ statutes were last modified in 2012 regarding massage establishments.
"With the most recent update it gave us the ability to put a little more teeth into what we were doing," Pasquale said.
In 2012, a police investigation involving the In Spa Massage Parlor on Lincoln Avenue led to the arrest of a 44-year-old Flushing, N.Y., woman on charges of prostitution. Police said the investigation started after they received several complaints about sexual acts that were being performed at the establishment. In Spa is still closed.
The ordinances enforces the Massage and Bodywork Therapist Licensing Act, created within the Division of Consumer Affairs, which provides exclusive jurisdiction to the New Jersey Massage and Bodywork Therapy adopted rules and regulations for the licensing of massage therapists.
"Hawthorne believes that for the preservation of the public health, safety and welfare of the municipality and its residents there needs to be an enforceable ordinance within the Borough Code for the licensing and regulation of massage establishments consistent with state statute and administrative regulations," the ordinance states.
The eight-page ordinance details everything from obtaining licenses, a fee of $2,000, proper documents needed by owners, operating requirements and more.
Some of the operating requirements are having price lists displayed, all employees including the persons performing a massage need to wear nontransparent outer garments covering the sexual and genital areas, and no employee or patron shall touch or fondle, or offer to touch or fondle, in any manner the sexual or genital area of any person.
The public hearing and adoption of the ordinance is scheduled for the April 17 meeting at 7 p.m. Copies of the full ordinance can be obtained at the clerk’s office in the municipal building.
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