Board Allows Tattoo Shop To Stay
By Stacy Peterson
A controversial tattoo and body piercing business can stay open on N. Main Street. The High Point Board of Adjustment unanimously upheld Thursday a High Point city zoning and business license determination that allowed the business to open nearly a month ago.
But even before Skin Design Tattoo opened at 1225 N. Main St., residents and business owners of the nearby Emerywood neighborhood hired attorney Aaron Clinard to appeal the business license.
Clinard and City Councilman Jim Stanley waged a war against allowing the business to stay. Stanley even asked Council to do away with “objectionable” businesses in general business districts throughout the city.
But on Thursday, Board of Adjustment members said whether people like it or not, the city’s staff made the right decision in determining the business could open because the area is zoned for general business.
Skin Design owners Robert Pho, Sam Yim and their families smiled as they walked to the elevators of City Hall after the decision and nearly three hours of debate. Bill Miller They said they can live with a stipu block the lation the board imposed to block public from viewing the tattooing and body piercing areas from outside the building.
Clinard said he is not sure yet if the more than residents he said he represents will appeal the decision to Guilford County Superior Court. 30 tions. Carson Marsh, the city’s inspections director, testified how the initial decision was made. The city’s staff recommended the decision stand with a new review of future uses near homes in the area by the Planning and Zoning Commission.
Marsh explained the staff had to make a determination based on city ordinances with uses determined in 1987. He said there is no o way the city can list every possible use, but added tattoo parlors are allowed according to the ordinances, making the general business district one of the most comprehensive classifica- He said there are 441 land uses identified by the city. Roughly 70 of those are listed under personal services, which are al- lowed in the general business dis trict.
Tattooing, as a business use, is classified in the same category as a tanning salon. Marsh said tattoo parlors offer less impact on nearby properties than other uses such as 24-hour convenience stores or busi- nesses with outward facing light ing Through a detailed explanation, Marsh said tattooing is listed as a miscellaneous personal service. That means it isn’t classified else- where and is better matched for general business areas which are most often located on busy roads like Main Street.
Clinard took issue with the city staff decision and said the wording of the ordinances is conflicting. Clinard also questioned parking at the shop and said the business should be closed because the use has changed and there were not enough spaces. Marsh discounted that claim by saying parking only changes if a building has an addition. But in addition to his legal arguments, Clinard also took on tattoo ing as “something less than ordi- nary” as a business use “I don’t care what the manual says.”
Clinard said. “We have to use our common sense. Our clients say it is time to draw a line in the sand Clinard referred to a term called “creep,” which he described as per- mitting a use in an area near homes and other unclassified businesses follow. He said the shop brings up what he called negative connotations and offered pictures of the other Skin Design Tattoo shop in Lexington. He said the business would draw people near the Hillcrest neighbor- hood that residents there would not approve of But that kind of argument is what attorney Bill Miller said should not come into play. Miller, who is also the city attor- ney for Archdale, represented Ap- ple Tree of High Point, the owners of the property where the tattoo business is located. “This is a land-use issue only,” Miller told the board.
“If it’s not here, it’s not anywhere under the city ordinances.” Then he asked the board: “Who is unbiased in this situation?” His answer was Marsh, who Miller said had nothing to gain ei- ther way with the decision. According to testimony, Skin De- sign has a three-year lease and pays $1,000 a month. The building’s co- owner said she spent up to $15,000 in renovations, and the shop’s own- ers counted about $10,000 worth of work and new equipment. Miller also testified the location originally had housed a 24-hour coin laundry business before eventu ally becoming Rotha’s Formal Wear and Tuxedos. Pho then took the stand and ex- plained why the business chose High Point.
He said the Lexington business was near three churches and a restaurant and never reported any problems. “When we found 1225 N. Main St.. we were extremely pleased.” Pho said. “For the past three weeks or so we have lived a nightmare. We pray and pray daily that this night- mare will go away.” He said the shop also wants to its value, and that’s why they want make sure the neighborhood keeps to keep the shop clean and orderly. tattoos, he said he wants to draw As for the growing popularity of clients from professions such as nurses and school teachers.
The building has to feel safe for them to come to him, he said. Hill also brought up a recent survey Board member Winston “Bud” that he said suggested the average tattoo customers today is a subur- ban, middle-class woman. After the decision, temporary board chairman Gregory Vann York explained his vote. He said he, too, does not want tat- too shops in the area where he lives. But he added city staff made the right decision. He also pointed to the new study, also approved by the board, that asks the city Planning and Zoning Commission to determine if steps are needed to protect homes in the future with spacing or overlay zones.