Quincy ready to regulate bodywork businesses

Quincy city councilors are poised to approve an ordinance that would regulate the city’s bodywork businesses.

City Clerk Joseph Shea said he anticipates the measure will be recommended by the Ordinance Committee on Monday and be approved by the council that night.

The ordinance, proposed by Mayor Thomas P. Koch, would require establishments and practitioners of reflexology and related therapies to obtain a license from the Licensing Board, undergo inspections, and adhere to such standards as being clean, adequately lighted and ventilated, and allowing no sexual activity, according to Andrew G. Scheele, the city’s public health commissioner.

Councilors have made several revisions to the proposal, including reducing the amount of the annual license fees from $500 to $50 for bodywork establishments, and from $250 to $25 for practitioners.

Quincy is among a number of cities and towns that have moved to place local controls on bodywork businesses because of concerns they put communities at risk for prostitution, human trafficking, and other illegal behavior.