Daytona Beach allows tattoo shops in more areas

At their meeting Wednesday night, city commissioners voted to expand the number of areas in the city where tattoo parlors are allowed to include parts of the beachside redevelopment area, downtown redevelopment area, Midtown redevelopment area and parts of the city with one type of business retail zoning.

DAYTONA BEACH — Expect the number of tattoo shops in the city to grow.

At their meeting Wednesday night, city commissioners voted to expand the number of areas in the city where tattoo parlors are allowed to include parts of the beachside redevelopment area, downtown redevelopment area, Midtown redevelopment area and parts of the city with one type of business retail zoning.

The decision was made on a 6-1 vote, with only City Commissioner Ruth Trager objecting.

“I don’t understand how this would enhance an area,” Trager said.

Two people asked city commissioners to allow tattoo shops in an additional type of business retail zoning, while two local residents urged commissioners not to loosen the city’s tattoo shop restrictions at all.

“You met the legal requirements of the First Amendment zoning case on tattoos last year when you enacted in April a change to the zoning to allow more permanent areas for tattoos,” said Tracey Remark, a former Daytona Beach city commissioner and longtime resident. “We do not need to continue to be such a divided community in terms of what do we want to be when we grow up. ... I really think that it’s time for Daytona Beach to make a statement, instead of wide open fun, that we are finally living up to our potential and we pick a vision that we want to be as a community.”

Until a year ago, tattoo shops were only permitted in heavy industry and planned development zoning districts. The result was only one shop on State Road A1A that sold tattoo designs, but had to transport customers outside the city to do the actual tattooing.

Things changed after a December 2015 decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit that concluded having one area for tattoo shops isn’t enough and suggested tattooing is a protected form of artistic expression under the First Amendment. In reaction to that ruling, in April last year, Daytona Beach commissioners decided to allow tattoo shops in business automotive zoning districts and removed the prohibition of tattoo establishments in all of the city’s redevelopment areas and in the northern tip of Ridgewood Avenue.

But to open a tattoo parlor in the North Ridgewood corridor or in the redevelopment areas, prospective tattoo shop owners had to secure a planned development zoning. One business went through a long process last year to get the planned development zoning and opened a tattoo shop on Main Street in October. But others tried and failed.

Now tattoo shops will be allowed by right in one type of business retail zoning and parts of the redevelopment areas.

“If a business owner selects an existing building for the shop (in one of the newly approved areas), all they would need is a business tax license,” city spokeswoman Susan Cerbone said in an email responding to a question.

In other action Wednesday night:

• City commissioners and the mayor held a workshop to discuss their goals and priorities, something they do each spring. Their ideas varied, but several highlighted getting the First Step Shelter open as soon as possible, improving code enforcement and overhauling east International Speedway Boulevard.

Other priorities addressed getting enforceable panhandling rules, road improvements, trails and sidewalks, flood mitigation and improving the relationship between the community and government. Mayor Derrick Henry said he wants to conduct some sort of community-wide citizen survey to find out what a large number of residents are concerned about.

• At their regular meeting that followed the workshop, commissioners voted to demolish the old Daytona Beach Police Department headquarters at 990 Orange Ave. that for nearly 10 years has been sitting empty. Since police located to a new station at the corner of Mason Avenue and Williamson Boulevard nine years ago, city officials have been unable to find a suitable user for the 55-year-old buildings.

The 31,660-square-foot complex should be down by September. The city will pay Samsula Waste Inc., a New Smyrna Beach-based company, $99,500 to demolish the complex.

• Also at the regular meeting, commissioners decided to apply for a $238,000 Florida Inland Navigation District grant that could be used to design and permit improvements at Sickler Park, located near the Seabreeze Bridge off Ballough Road. The proposed project would expand the fishing pier at the park and add restrooms, retail and other amenities, according to city records. If awarded, the grant would be issued in October.

• Commissioners also decided to spend $76,295 to buy drones that could be used to locate missing people, conduct pre- and post-storm inspection of the city’s critical infrastructure, investigate crime scenes, allow city officials to have an aerial view during large events and allow firefighters to monitor fires.

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March 22, 2018