- Alexandria’s Planning and Zoning Commission voted Sept. 16 to allow tattoo studios as a permitted use in the highway commercial zone, with operating hours of 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
- Shops must be at least one mile apart.
- Residents Jesse Hughes and Jada Reynolds, who signed a lease for a space in the highway commercial zone, supported the decision and plan to open a tattoo studio.
Tattoo studios could be permitted businesses in Alexandria, a decision the planning commission made after the city determined they couldn’t ban them altogether.
The Alexandria Planning and Zoning Commission voted on Sept. 16 to allow tattoo studios in the city’s highway commercial zone as permitted use, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. The item still requires approval from the city council.
The commission considered three zones: neighborhood shopping center, highway commercial or industrial park zone. It also determined whether to make the shops a permitted use or a conditional use. A conditional use would require all applicants to go before the Alexandria Board of Adjustments for approval.
The one option that wasn’t given was not allowing them in any zone.
Alexandria City Attorney Mike Duncan said that since tattoo shops are a lawful, regulated use under Kentucky law, if the city did not exclude them by including them in some place, then the risk would be that they could go in any type of commercial or business zone.
Alexandria residents Jesse Hughes and his partner Jada Reynolds spoke at the meeting. They said they took a “huge risk”, signing a lease at 7923 East Alexandria Pike, where they would like to open a tattoo studio, before the Sept. 16 vote. Although the pair plans to open a studio, they were not applicants for consideration but rather acted as industry representatives.
“We decided to sign a lease on that and cross our fingers that we could make something happen,” Hughes said.
Reynolds and Hughes’ risk seemed to pay off as the building they signed a lease for is within the highway commercial zone.
Reynolds said a lot of her clients are teachers and parents.
“A lot of them just use this as a good self-therapy kind of moment,” she said. “A lot of people go to give some stress relief. So, I think of it as the same as going to the salon, getting your nails done, getting your hair done, just doing things for yourself.”
The commission also included in its approval that tattoo shops located within the highway commercial zone may not be located within one mile of each other. This is similar to what the city has done with vape shops.
The Northern Kentucky Independent Health District administers the requirements for the shops. It will conduct physical inspections to ensure compliance with licensure requirements, which will be required for each tattoo artist.
Some of the limitations on artists include not tattooing anyone under the age of 17. If an individual is 17, they must have parental consent, and that parent must accompany the minor to the appointment and have a valid ID.
Anyone who receives a tattoo must have a valid ID. Those wishing to be tattooed must not be under the influence of any substance, among other things that are regulated.
“The tattoo industry is severely regulated now,” said Alexandria Planning and Zoning Chair Nick Reitman. “It has changed. It is not the state where it used to be, you know, the bikers and the bad people and this and that. If you look around, a good portion of the people you see have tattoos.”
