After interviewing Leslie and Jeff Rundquist for 30 minutes on their proposal for a therapeutic snuggling/cuddling business in the 7400 block of Manchester Road, five members of the Maplewood Plan and Zoning Commission voted 5-0 against granting them a business permit.
The Rundquist’s currently run Embrace Me Now out of their office in south St. Louis. They are both licensed counselors. They had hoped an expansion into an office in Maplewood would grow the snuggling business.
They said cuddling/snuggling is therapeutic, but the level of intimacy is not allowed in traditional medical settings.
“There are a large number of therapists that tell me, I will send you clients, because I can’t do it,” Jeff Rundquist said. “They understand the value of it, but it’s currently outside of those boundaries. Eventually it will be incorporated into those boundaries.”
The commission asked about certification for snugglers.
“We’re working on a certification ourselves,” Leslie Rundquist said. “All employees are trained by us. It is my business, so I’m going to be very careful about making sure that I’ve got the right people, and they understand the nature of the business.”
Jeff Runquist said other businesses, on the East and West coasts, have been in business close to two years. They said the businesses are new, so there are currently no shared standards or certifications. A commission member told them the more self-regulating they are, the more they will be accepted.
Having clients understand the boundaries and purpose of the office was one of the commission’s concerns. Jeff Rundquist said he vets every potential client, and every client signs a waiver. All “snuggle rooms” are equipped with video cameras, and each session is video taped, which Rundquist said he reviews.
The commission asked the Rundquist about a snuggling business in Madison, WI, that had problems and had to close.
“There’s going to be obviously people who don’t understand,” he said. “They think that it’s not therapeutic or not compassionate—something that it’s absolutely not. I don’t know why they didn’t make it. There’s hearsay, I haven’t talked to the owner personally.”
After the meeting Leslie Rundquist said she doubts they will continue in Maplewood. They could continue on to the city council if they chose, but would need a super majority yes vote to override the 5-0 planning and zoning vote.
“I thought Maplewood was pretty progressive, so I was pretty hopeful it would pass,” she said. “I’m disappointed.” She said they would likely check out other areas. Possibly the Grove, in the city.
See also: Maplewood Plan & Zoning approves 19-acre plan on Sunnen property
Planning and zoning chairman, Dan Noonan said after the meeting that even it was better regulated he would still have concerns with the snuggling remaining platonic.
Wonder how massage parlors, as they were originally named ever made it. You know where a person strips down naked, lies under a sheet and has someone rub oil all over their body.
But heaven forbid you snuggle up to someone fully clothed! The council needs to look up the meaning of strictly platonic.
I wish I could have seen the expressions on the P & Z commission’s faces. Yes, Maplewood won’t be going there for a generation or two…