An application to open a massage parlour just doors from an inner city youth centre has fallen through.
The owner of the building has withdrawn her application just days after her interpreter was arrested.
Those at the youth centre said they couldn’t be happier.
“The whole community is thrilled that this has come to an end,” Crystal Kids board chair, Bryan LaFleche explained.
“The concern was that they would open a body rub parlour and that they would be selling sexual services and that was just too close for us with the kids that we work with here.”
Led by the youth centre a petition with 13,000 signatures from community residents was presented to the City in an attempt to keep the business from being approved.
“A business that adds to the vibrancy of the community is more than welcome but a business that drags the community back to where it was would not be welcome here at all,” LaFleche said.
The building owner can make another application to open the business in six months but for now LaFleche said the focus was back on making the community a positive place for the kids.
With files from Amanda Anderson
