The City of Dorval, in Montreal’s West Island, has shut down a controversial adult-only massage parlour.
The parlour had operated for several years right in the centre of Dorval Village, but after a Global News report, the city found it was illegal and cancelled its permit.
“If the city knew about it, they should have done something about it, for sure,” said Micheline Ward, a Dorval resident.
“I don’t think they should have let it go.”
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“It’s more of a family place, a lot of kids. No, I don’t think it’s a good place to have a business like that,” Chantale Tardiff said.
The owner of a nearby hair salon told Global News she used to work near Spa Perfection and would sometimes get calls asking if she offered erotic massages.
“It’s not normal to see, so how come they let this go. There is no rule? There is no law? I don’t know,” said France Flibott.
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The city said it issued an occupancy certificate to the massage parlour in 2014 as the owner said he was going to offer therapeutic massages.
This week, Dorval deemed the business activities illegal, withdrew the parlour’s certificate and asked the business to shut down.
“I think maybe they are understanding the response of the community, not up to me to judge, but in a personal manner, it’s not something you want to see around,” said Michelle Nadeau.
“It’s quiet here. It’s a quiet area, people love it because of that and [the massage parlour] was a big problem,” Diane Rowe told Global News.
Dorval officials say they plan to continue monitoring the massage parlour over the next few days to make sure it doesn’t re-open.
READ MORE: Montreal ‘erotic’ massage parlours operate despite law
The city is considering amending its bylaws to restrict or prohibit where businesses offering massotherapy can operate.