Canton Road Health Spa's Business License Revoked

MARIETTA — The Cobb Board of Commissioners has denied a request to renew the business license of a Canton Road health spa, citing extensive violations.

The board voted 4-0, with Chairwoman Lisa Cupid absent, to deny the request by Asian Wellness Massage, located at 3372 Canton Road in Marietta.

“To me, they are not minor violations. They are serious,” said Commissioner JoAnn Birrell. “These cases are very serious and we take them seriously. We are concerned about a hardship putting someone out of business. But when you do not follow our code and our law, you leave us no choice.”

Following the vote, owner Lingxia Zhang buried her head in her hands.

The health spa must close barring a court appeal. In addition, Zhang cannot apply for a new business license for 12 months.

V Massage, located at 2800 Canton Road, in Marietta, was also scheduled to appeal the county’s decision to deny renewal of their license before the county commission Tuesday. Their hearing was delayed until August 13.

Asian Wellness Massage and V Massage were denied a renewal of their health spa licenses in April by the county’s business license division.

The hearing lasted nearly three hours and was translated between Mandarin and English by a language interpreter.

Meng Lim defended Asian Wellness Massage, while attorney Sam Hensley Jr. represented the Cobb Business License Division. Lim will also defend V Massage in August.

Asian Wellness Massage Hearing

Ellisia Webb, manager of the Cobb County Business License Division, said the county’s license review board was notified by the attorney general’s office in 2022 that there was reason to believe Asian Wellness Massage advertised illicit massage services on adult websites.

While visiting the business in 2022, Cobb County Detective Bruce Witt reportedly found a twin-sized bed and suitcases in the back of the business with evidence that someone had been living there. Witt said in his experience, these signs were indications of potential human trafficking.

The spa was also cited for having unlicensed employees and for not providing an updated list of employees to the county.

Zhang denied that her business was involved in human trafficking during her testimony. She said the bed belonged to an employee and she was storing it in the business to test it out.

Webb said no evidence of illicit activity was found at Asian Wellness Massage during a compliance check in February. However, the county denied the parlor a license renewal in April citing multiple repeated violations.

Upon voting, Commissioner Monique Sheffield addressed her concerns with the potential illegal activity occurring at the health spa.

“...they’ve taken additional steps to market their illicit massage, and that’s concerning to me,” Sheffield said. “I have a difficult time accepting some of the testimony as being truthful.”

Commissioner Keli Gambrill said conflicting information filed by the business in the past is what swayed her to uphold the denial.

Commissioner Jerica Richardson said she was “on the fence” about this particular case when comparing it to previous cases the board has heard, saying nothing criminal had been presented.

“While I understand there have been peaks in potential conversation about illicit activity, this does differ from other cases where there was actual evidence provided for something occurring,” Richardson said.

Even so, Richardson also voted to revoke Zhang’s spa license.

The hearing comes after the Cobb Board of Commissioners unanimously voted on June 25 to approve a six-month pause on issuing licenses to health spas amid allegations of illegal activity at certain Cobb businesses.

Chairwoman Lisa Cupid, who was there for part of the hearing before leaving for other meetings, at one point addressed Zhang.

“We hope that you will do what you can to ensure that does not take place at your site, and that you will help us have confidence that you are not doing anything that would facilitate it,” Cupid said.