An advisory commission charged with regulating liquor licensees in St. Charles also may soon oversee licensing for tobacco and massage establishments.
At a meeting on Monday, the Liquor Control Commission voted in favor of expanding its role to regulate tobacco and massage licensing in the city. The move comes as staff members are working to draft ordinances to regulate e-cigarettes and license massage businesses.
The recommendation will go to a City Council committee and the full council for final approval later this month.
“I guess we are moving toward calling ourselves the ATM,” said Mayor Ray Rogina, who also serves as liquor commissioner.
St. Charles Police Chief James Keegan explained that he would like to pursue adding additional provisions to the city’s code so that when businesses with tobacco licenses violate city and state law — for instance, by selling tobacco products to minors — the commission could review the violations and consider fines, similar to those imposed on liquor licensees.
“The seller or the person behind the counter is subject to possibly a violation. That person is held accountable,” Keegan said, adding that there are currently 31 establishments that sell tobacco products in the city. “There aren’t any provisions currently in place by the state of Illinois and the city that hold the licensee accountable.”
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He went on to say that staff would also like the commission to consider a possible ordinance specific to e-cigarettes and other alternative tobacco products. Any violations of such possible ordinances would be reviewed by the commission and liquor commissioner, he said.
“I think that this commission here should take on tobacco,” said Ald. Maureen Lewis. “A conversation about the clean (air) act and putting in some limitations (on e-cigarettes) would be beneficial.”
Keegan noted that the city has not received any complaints from residents or business owners about people using e-cigarettes indoors, but that if the city remains neutral on the issue it’s really up to interpretation.
“Because our current businesses are so conscientiousness I don’t see that they would object to us adding some nuisance laws,” said Ald. Rita Anne Payleitner.
City staff members are currently working on an ordinance to license massage establishments as businesses, after police made three prostitution arrests last spring, said Deputy Chief Steve Huffman.
Since 2010, St. Charles police have conducted 36 massage compliance checks, which resulted in seven prostitution arrests, Huffman said.
Huffman said that licensing these types of businesses would deter the illegal activity from occurring and also help legitimize the massage profession.
“Any time you make an arrest of prostitution … it’s a smear on the entire (massage) profession,” Rogina said. “When these things happen, people say, ‘What’s going on in St. Charles?’ And my response to that is the police are doing their job. … At the end of the day these things could always happen and we have a responsibility to stop them.”
Twitter @skbaer