The White Rose Spa in the Greenfield Industrial Park closed three weeks ago because of "harassment" by tenants in nearby suites, according to the spa's owner.
"It's hard enough to run a business in a community if you're wanted," said Stan Hill, who also owns a White Rose Spa in York. "If you're not wanted, it's more difficult."
Hill said that the business was forced to shut down because of rumors that the spa provided sex to clients. It did not, he said, but "the rumors snowballed and got worse."
Meanwhile, East Lampeter Township police said an investigation of the spa continues.
Township police were looking at both the White Rose Spa and another massage business, the Ruby Spa on Lincoln Highway East, when they closed early this month.
The Ruby Spa violated the township's zoning rules, according to the township zoning officer. Informed of that violation, the owner of the building gave the operators 30 days notice to move out.
"We're going to make sure they stay closed and don't move anywhere else," Lt. Robin Weaver said of the two spas. "We're also going to check other similar locations in our jurisdiction."
The Sunday News reported Aug. 8 that the White Rose Spa would close the next day as the result of an investigation by the industrial park's owner, High Properties.
High and the spa "came to this mutual agreement that [White Rose Spa] would cease operations," a High spokesman said at the time. Efforts to obtain comment from Hill then were unsuccessful.
But, breaking his silence, Hill later said that High sent a test client to investigate the spa.
"They said they found nothing wrong," Hill explained, and did not tell him to close.
He noted that High officials said they understood that the rumors were hurting his business and would let him out of his lease early if he wanted to leave after little over a month in business.
But High spokesman John Sandy provided a different account.
"The extent of High Properties' involvement was to meet with the owner of the business," he said.
"We offered him the option of terminating the lease early and he chose that option.'
Hill said he spent two days watching the operation himself and "didn't see anything that the therapists were doing that was out of the ordinary."
But the situation had become a "zoo," he said, so he decided to close.
"They had the rumor mill running all through the park. On several occasions we saw people sitting in cars taking pictures. People were going inside and questioning the therapists. It was a circus," he said.
Potential clients began calling and asking if the spa provided sexual services, Hill noted, so he decided to close.
"People were afraid to work there," he said.
Hill, who owns other businesses in York and Baltimore, said he wasn't making much money at the spa. He leased it to others who paid him a portion of their income.
Women who worked at the spa provided full-body rubs to nude clients. It was an "aggressive-type massage, a sports-type massage," Hill said.
"It's everything tip to toe," he explained. "They start with a scalp massage and go to the toes, except for the genital area."
Hill said no one lived in the industrial park suite where the spa operated. What looked like beds in a back room actually were additional massage tables, he said.
Hill said no customers ever complained about the service. In fact, he said, "there was never really any allegation to respond to."