COEUR d’ALENE — Months after the city revoked the business licenses of five massage facilities due to allegations of illegal sexual activity, the Coeur d’Alene City Council will consider amending the municipal code applying to such facilities.

The proposed changes, which the council will consider Tuesday, “reflect a collaboration between public safety needs and business licensing needs to help ensure legitimate massage facilities are utilizing best practices and illicit massage facilities are held accountable,” according to a report prepared by city staff. 

The state of Idaho took over licensure of individual massage therapists in 2013. Since then, the state has regulated individual therapists and cities have regulated facilities. 

Under the existing code, it’s difficult to determine where licensed therapists work because they are tracked through the mailing address they use for the licenses, rather than through their place of employment. 

There are 31 licensed facilities in Coeur d’Alene with an unknown number of massage therapists at present, according to the city. 

City staff recommended that the council approve a new requirement that applications for facility licensure include copies of therapist licenses. 

“Knowing what licensed therapist is at which site will help with enforcement when inspection or law enforcement action occurs,” the report said. “It has been important to have a local level license for facilities to ensure that inappropriate activities, such as prostitution and/or human trafficking, are not occurring, as there is no state-level enforcement in this area.” 

The proposed changes include a requirement that each facility “have a person conversant in English available and that all records be kept in English” because staff “are aware of several facilities where the required logbooks are illegible as symbols and other languages were being used.” 

A new section of code was proposed “to clearly define illicit acts.” 

Staff also requested additional requirements for a fire and building inspection at any new facility. 

Stakeholders were notified of the proposed code changes in October 2024 and April of this year and additional notifications were sent after “substantial amendments” were made to the initial set of proposed amendments. The city received no comments, according to the report.