Tattoo Parlor Makes it’s Mark
By Stacy Peterson
A business that wants to ink the skin of tattoo customers on N. Main Street has irked a nearby neighborhood considered to be the gateway to the old Emerywood community. Signs that read “Skin Design Tattoo” are already up at 1225 N. Main St., next to Alex’s House Restaurant.
Inside on Friday, partners of the expanded Lexington business hosted health inspectors and said they plan to open next week. But one street behind the business, an informal neighborhood group from the Hill need a crest Place area have joined together and tattoo sought the assistance of attorney Aaron Clinard, who also lived on the street in the past.
They plan to stop the business from opening or shut it down by saying the business is inappropriate for the row of businesses that stand a matter of feet from homes. “It just doesn’t fit in the neighborhood.” Clinard said. “That area doesn’t need a tattoo parlor.”
The business is moving in because city ordinances do not single out tattoo and body-piercing businesses like they do for adult book stores, massage parlors or topless bars. The city has Sexually Oriented Business classifications that determine loca- tions based on criteria such as how close the business is to a church or school. The tattoo and body piercing business would be allowed at its N. Main Street location because it is already zoned for general business, a zoning that allows a broad range of uses.
Clinard said he plans to ask for a stay of occupancy and plans to appeal a city inspections decision to allow the business through the Board of Adjustment. He said while the general business zoning does not preclude a tattoo business, he said it does not list it specifically as an allowed use. In addition, City Councilman Jim Stanley has also asked the city planning staff to look at ordinances near homes to see if those guidelines need to be updated.