By Robert Tomlinson
News Director
THREE RIVERS — A new massage establishment could soon be on the way to Three Rivers, and could, unrelated to its application, spark new conversations about the requirements for such businesses to come into the city.
On Monday, the Three Rivers Planning Commission unanimously recommended to the City Commission approval with conditions of a special exception use (SEU) permit for a new massage establishment at 740 S. U.S. 131, in the strip mall just north of the Meijer gas station, to be called Eden Spa.
According to the SEU permit application, the establishment would be run by Meijun Zhou, currently a resident of Aurora, Ill., and a licensed massage therapist in Michigan, who wrote in her application she intends to offer massage services at her establishment “focused on relaxation,” with Zhou as the lone employee. The business would be approximately 1,000 square feet, and will share on-site parking in the strip mall with Crystal Nails, The GOAT Cannabis, Tokyo Steakhouse and Sushi, MJ’s Bargains, Edward Jones, and Flagstar Bank.
There were not a lot of questions from planning commissioners, with commissioner Josh Williams asking about her licensing status and whether there would be techniques offered that are and aren’t covered under her license. Zhou replied that she would be doing techniques that would “relax the body.”
Director of Community Development John Beebe added later that SEU permits are “perpetual,” meaning they have to meet requirements and continue to meet them for the duration of the business’ time in their location. If a business is to be found in violation of any of the conditions of the permit, it’d be “grounds for revocation” of a license, subject to due process.
“It’s not just about setting it up correctly and doing whatever you want after that, it’s continuing to operate it under all the existing rules of the city and the state, since the state license is mentioned,” Beebe said. “Anything that’s listed under the state requirements or Chapter 5 [of the city code] is part of that.”
When asked by commissioner Clayton Lyczynski why Zhou chose Three Rivers for the business, Zhou said it was because Three Rivers was a “good location.” Lyczynski then later noted U.S. 131 gets “an obnoxiously large amount” of traffic through Three Rivers on a daily basis, per traffic studies done by businesses in the area.
The recommendation was unanimous, 5-0, with commissioner Natelege Zaritz absent. Many of the conditions mentioned as part of the approval have already been met by the applicant.
Later on in the meeting, unrelated to the new massage establishment specifically, there was a discussion by planning commissioners to “spin the wheels” of possibly amending the city’s zoning ordinance to either remove or modify the permit process for new massage establishments.
Beebe said there has been discussion, but no action thus far, among city commissioners for such a move, noting their arguments have to do with having to be licensed in the state and go through the process of getting an SEU from the city, and whether or not that was “redundant.”
“Especially given they need to get both special permitting and licensing, is that too much? There’s pros and cons either way and there are certain safeguards that help when you have that through the permitting process. So, is it redundant is the question,” Beebe told the planning commissioners. “I just wanted you guys to be aware, so if it comes up at a city commission meeting in the future where they decide, just like you did for the small lots ordinance, they make a recommendation to you guys to consider having that portion of the code removed, so deregulating massage establishments as special permits in the city.”
Beebe said there would be options if such a measure were to be proposed by the city commission, such as “demoting” massage establishment approval processes to a conditional use instead of special use, or just having the licensing requirements. That would be up to the planning commissioners to take up if it comes about. In all likelihood, Beebe added, such a discussion may not happen for “several months.”
Planning commissioner Jenny Koski asked about hair salons and day spas and if they need to go through SEUs, with Beebe saying day spas have to, adding they’re “potentially in the same category” as massage establishments.
Lyczynski then asked, if they are asked to change the regulatory structure for applying for a massage establishment, what would happen if they changed it to conditional use. Beebe said that’d be up to the planning commissioners. Lyczynski said he could be up to a change.
“I like the idea of taking one step out of the equation, especially if it’s going to have multiple stops,” Lyczynski said.
No action was taken in regards to any possible ordinance amendments during Monday’s meeting.
Robert Tomlinson can be reached at 279-7488 or robert@wilcoxnewspapers.com.
