The Snuggle House, a new business in Madison where customers can cuddle with young staff members for $60 an hour, postponed opening this week after failing to convince city attorneys it wasn't a front for prostitution.
The business was supposed to launch on Tuesday but now hopes to open next Wednesday after addressing permitting and other concerns. Meanwhile, more than 300 clients are waiting in line for snuggle sessions with the Snuggle House's four staff members, owner Matthew Hurtado said.
Jennifer Zilavy, an assistant city attorney, said the business has passed necessary inspections but still needs a certificate of occupancy and to show that it has hiring, training, security and other written protocols.
"If they're snuggling with somebody who gets aroused and wants more, what do they have in place to deal with that? Because that's going to happen, there's no doubt about it," Zilavy said.
"We have to be comfortable that it's a legitimate business," she said. "We don't want our police department responding there for sexual assaults all the time. We need to know they've thought through protocols in that situation."
She said the city's No. 1 concern is whether the business could lead to prostitution.
The Snuggle House now has a manual that's more than 100 pages detailing the business' various procedures, Hurtado told the Journal Sentinel in a phone interview Friday.
Clients are prescreened and instructed about boundaries, and he said staff members received hours of training about how to react to possible scenarios.
There are eight security cameras in the 1,200-square-foot office.
"This place looks like Alcatraz," Hurtado said, comparing Snuggle House security with similar businesses.
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