Regina council sets minimum separation distance for body rub parlours

Body rub parlours are set to be at least a city block apart from each other.

The same distance — 182.88 metres — also applies to the separation between the parlours and schools, parks, daycares, enclosed rinks, libraries, community centres and "sensitive lots."

Council voted late last year to regulate, but not ban, the parlours.

The latest decision on separation distances came at the first city council meeting of the new year on Wednesday.

 Mayor Michael Fougere said there is still work to do on the topic of body rub parlours. 

"We have another major step to take and then we'll finally be concluded with body rub parlours."

Originally, existing places that are not in accordance with the new rules would be grandfathered in. However City Council voted to not grandfather in the current places. 

City Council will have another meeting to deal with the licensing side of body rub parlours, Fougere said. 

Before Wednesday's vote, some people had been pushing for a two-block separation.

Councillor Barbara Young suggested that a two-block buffer would be similar to a ban. The legal industry needs to be where they can regulate it, she said. 

Fougere said he is still against having body rub parlours in the city. He voted for an amendment to restrict them from being a block away from residential areas. The amendment didn't get approved after a 5-5 vote.

'The Yards' development approved unanimously 

A proposed new neighbourhood at the site of the former railyards north of the Warehouse area was also on the agenda
Wednesday.  

Council voted to approve adding "The Yards" to a city design plan and moving forward to plan development. 

A city report says governments are putting $33.6 million into the development. The contributions are divided between the City of Regina, the province of Saskatchewan and the federal government. The city is contributing $11.2 million. The money needs to be spent by 2028. 

Nick Kazilis is with the Regina Revitalization Initiative with the city. He says thousands of people have given their input on the plan over the past seven years. 

The Dewdney Avenue portion of development could start as soon as next year if City council approves the concept, Kazilis said. 

Councillor Bob Hawkins was concerned about sustainability in the plan. He called the plan a "disappointment."

An environmental assessment was done in the area, and Kazilis said they expect the report to be in this spring. The City of Regina administration says it is working on sustainability guidelines and those will come forward at a later time. 

Coun. Andrew Stevens put forward an amendment to plan the neighbourhood for it to be an environmentally sustainable "net zero" community  The City administration said they can look into it but they need private sector investment, so it could be difficult. 

Stevens told City Council they either commit to being environmentally sustainable or they don't. 

The city administration said there are costs to a net zero development. However, the net zero community amendment was passed 7-3. Those not in favour were councillors Barbara Young,  Sharon Bryce and Fougere. 

UPASS passes, Code of Conduct, Buddhist Centre also discussed

Also at City Council, there was a vote in favour of expanding the UPASS for university students to the spring and summer months. Only Coun. Bob Hawkins was against. 

The City of Regina was also exploring a new Code of Conduct that included a social media policy and whistleblower policy. It passed with one amendment. 

And the Buddhist Centre of Regina was approved to get funding from the City to replace their boiler that burst into flames in mid-December.