Trying to strip an Abingdon, Va., tattoo parlor of its business license after it has been operating for six years – apparently successfully and without incident – is a wrong move by town leaders.
But the real problem for the owner is there is no provision in the zoning ordinance for tattoo parlors in the town. Bleeding Canvas sits in the B-3 central business district where allowable businesses include barber shops, beauty shops and similar personal service establishments.
Garrett Jackson, the town’s planning director, has told business owner Jeffrey Davidson that he won’t grant him a business license to continue operating.
Davidson is understandably upset. The tattoo parlor has existed at the same Main Street location since 2003, albeit under a different name – Crazy Daisy Tattoos. Davidson is a business owner who needs the income his shop provides. He is properly licensed by Virginia to operate a tattoo parlor. The predecessor shop had a business license to operate in Abingdon.
Davidson, 22, argues that in a tough economy, the town should be grateful for every dollar of tax revenue it can get and shouldn’t be shutting down businesses.
But zoning ordinances exist to determine what types of ways property will be used within a locality and where those uses can locate.
We say if Davidson wants to be taken seriously as a business owner in Abingdon, he needs to get tattoo parlors added as a permitted use under the existing zoning ordinance. His disparaging remark to a reporter regarding Jackson’s decision – “It’s bull crap, you know?” – makes him sound immature and angry, not like a business owner with a plan of action.
Perhaps Davidson believes Jackson is targeting Bleeding Canvas because it is a tattoo parlor. Some people still attribute tattooing with bikers and prison, but tattooing has gone mainstream and is not just a drunken rite of passage for sailors. An estimated 24 percent of Americans between the ages of 18 and 50 have tattoos. And two surveys in 2003 estimate 16 percent of all American adults have at least one tattoo.
We understand Abingdon is better known for quilts and antiques than tattoos and ink, and most people would prefer to keep it that way. Still, tattooing is a growing business, especially with younger people, and by all accounts Davidson has followed all provisions of state and local law.
He’s appealed Jackson’s decision to deny the business license, at a cost of $450, and will have an appeals hearing March 10 before the Board of Zoning Appeals.
We think the Board of Zoning Appeals should give Davidson a provisional license to continue operating until Davidson can petition the Planning Commission to add tattoo parlors to the comprehensive zoning ordinance. This will be considered this summer. Davidson should not be put out of business for months until the measure can be considered, especially since the business has been operating for six years.
He should be given an opportunity to make his case for adding tattoo parlors as part of the zoning ordinance. If the commissioners choose to include it, then Davidson should be allowed to continue operating his business.
In the meantime, Davidson should consider how he wants to be seen by the larger public, many of whom will never come into his shop. If he wants to overcome the negative stereotype of tattoo parlor owners, he should try less name-calling and more strategy.
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