Lake in the Hills revokes massage parlor license for 'suggestive' advertising

LAKE IN THE HILLS – After being open for less than a month, the village has revoked the license of Mo Massage in Lake in the Hills for having advertising that was more "suggestive or illicit" than allowed under local rules.

This is the second massage establishment to lose its license at the same location, 61 Polaris Drive, according to a news release from Lake in the Hills police.

The Lake in the Hills Village Board approved an ordinance in 2015 to place strong restrictions on all massage establishments, police said.

“We do welcome legitimate massage establishments into the village,” Lake in the Hills public information officer Amanda Schmitt said. “But we want to take an aggressive stance to prohibit ones that are illegal, such as ones that would permit prostitution.”

In September, Magic Spa had its license denied for violating advertising restrictions listed in the Lake in the Hills municipal code, police said. Magic Spa in October appealed the license denial, which was upheld.

Mo Massage applied for a massage establishment license at the same location in December, police said, and the license was granted in February.

The establishment operated from Feb. 15 to March 8, when its license was revoked for violating the village’s advertising restrictions for massage establishments, police said.

The code on advertising restrictions reads that “no massage establishment shall depict, place, publish, distribute, or cause to be depicted, placed, published, or distributed any advertising matter that suggests to prospective clients that any services are amiable other than those services permitted by this section, or which would suggest that employees or massage therapists are dressed in any manner other than permitted by this Section.”

Mo Massage will not be able to appeal the decision, police said, and is no longer doing business in Lake in the Hills.

Lake in the Hills police started looking into the massage establishment after receiving a tip, Schmitt said. She said the images on both businesses’ websites “are more suggestive or illicit than what is permitted per the ordinance.”