A proposed bylaw could limit the operating hours for body rub parlours like Cleopatra Massage on Ouellete Avenue in downtown Windsor, Ont. (CBC) A proposed bylaw that would limit the hours body rub parlours can operate in Windsor, Ont., would ruin business, said parlour owner Shari Cascadden at a public meeting Tuesday night.

The bylaw would force the city's seven body rub parlours, which provide erotic massages to paying customers, to buy licences at a cost of $366 for owner-operators and $148 for attendants.

And it would restrict the hours they can operate. Under the proposed bylaw, they could be open 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekdays, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturdays, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sundays.

Cascadden, who owns the Elite International parlour on Ouellette Avenue in downtown Windsor, said 80 per cent of her business comes in after 10 p.m. and peaks at 2 a.m.

"You're not even going to have to worry about licensing because there's not going to be any businesses," Cascadden said at Tuesday's meeting, in front of the city's licensing commissioner. "We don't want this industry basically going under."

The bylaw would also allow parlour owners to install security cameras in the entrances of their businesses in order to protect employees.

Licensing commissioner Diane Bertolin hopes to introduce the new legislation to city council in January. She called Tuesday's meeting in order to reach some "middle ground" before then, she said.