Erotic zone: Laval imposes new rules on sex businesses

Crackdown on erotic businesses Laval City Council decided to limit the number of new strip clubs, massage parlours, and sex shops

The southwestern Quebec city of Laval has introduced new measures to limit strip clubs, sex shops and massage parlours to one industrial zone.

City officials in Laval, Que. voted to adopt the amendments to bylaw L-2000 on Tuesday night. Under the revised provisions, “erotic establishments” must be located within one designated industrial zone.

Existing businesses that comply with all the city’s regulations are permitted to continue operating in their current locations thanks to a grandfather clause, but they must re-apply for a permit.

Half of the 40 massage parlours that reapplied for a permit by the end of 2017 were denied because it was discovered they were providing services of a sexual nature, Laval spokesperson Nadine Lussier said.

Some of the other amendments to the bylaws include, allowing a maximum of five erotic businesses within any 250 square-metre area, prohibiting schools, daycares and other similar establishments from being within 30 metres of an erotic business and a ban on signs or billboards advertising the location of the “erotic zone.”