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Massage parlors dismiss lawsuit
By Ed Runyan
WARREN
The last two of the nine recreational massage parlors in Warren that sued the city over its new massage-parlor law have dismissed the lawsuit voluntarily.
Atty. Dan Keating filed the dismissal this week in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court on behalf of Sunny Spa on East Market Street and Tiger Spa on West Market Street.
According to court records, the seven other massage parlors dismissed their part of the lawsuit July 23, and each of the parlors was responsible for paying costs associated with the case.
Each of the nine could refile the case at a later date, court officials said.
With the final two plaintiffs in the case gone, there is no longer a need for the Nov. 28 trial date Judge Peter Kontos set for the case.
With there no longer being any legal challenge to the new law, its new requirements are in effect unless another challenge arises, officials say.
The parlors claimed in the suit that the law was a “veiled attempt to close the licensed business establishments through excessive and unreasonably expensive regulatory costs.”
The law, approved by council in January, prohibits Warren massage parlors from operating from midnight to 6 a.m. and increases annual licensing fees from $750 per parlor to $1,800 and from $65 annually to $640 per massage therapist.
The new hours took effect in January. The new fees will be charged the first time in January 2013.
Of the nine parlors that filed the suit, seven were closed in June and agreed to stay closed for one year after the city took legal action against them following a May 30 raid. An eighth parlor not involved in the lawsuit also was closed down.
The raid was conducted by the Ohio Attorney General’s Office with the help of Warren police. Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine said the raids and earlier investigations uncovered evidence that prostitution was taking place in the eight businesses.
Officials also were looking for evidence of human trafficking and organized crime during the raids. Investigators seized computers, bank records and other information. No charges have been filed against any of the massage parlors.
Sunny Spa and Tiger Spa are the two Warren massage parlors that were not raided May 30. They were not ordered to close.