By Adam Swift
The city council has scheduled a public hearing for its July 27 meeting on a revised zoning ordinance for body art and food trucks.
The revised ordinance would increase the number of zoning districts where tattoo or body art establishments are allowed by special permit. In addition, the revised ordinance seeks to allow food trucks in one additional zoning district.
The ordinance seeks to expand body art establishments in the General Business, Central Business, and Highway Business districts.
“These changes have been crafted in partnership with (the Department of Planning and Community Development), the City Solicitor’s Office, the Health Department, and Licensing Department, and will support small business development in the city,” said planning and community development director Tom Skwierawski.
The food truck zoning revision is a little more specific and pertains to allowing food trucks at the Wonderland Marketplace strip mall property, Skwierawski said.
“There have been some inquiries, and there is a lot of concrete on that site (with) the potential for a food truck or two and currently zoning prohibits it,” he said.
Ward 3 Councilor Anthony Cogliandro said he did not like the body art zoning provisions as previously written and said he was happy the city looked into changing them. He asked if there was a possibility of opening up the establishments to more districts than the ones listed in the revised ordinance.
“I think we aimed to start with a basic ordinance proposal … and figured that if there was any additional flexibility that folks wanted to add to it you could do so with the council’s judgement,” said Skwierawski. “We wanted to make sure we went from basically an outright prohibition to allowing it, and hopefully we can take it further than that.”
Cogliandro also questioned a provision in the ordinance that would not allow body art establishments in any residential or mixed-use residential buildings.
“If a mixed-use residential building falls into one of the zones that we are allowing, which rule do we follow, do we follow the zoning, or do we follow this rule that it is mixed-use?” he asked.
If the rule were to stand, Skwierawski said the city would follow the rule pertaining to the particular building referred to in the ordinance.
Cogliandro asked what the reasoning was for not wanting the tattoo establishments in mixed-use buildings.
“This was a previously considered change that carried over,” said Skwierawski. “Personally, I lived next to a tattoo parlor for four years and I never woke up with a tattoo … so I don’t really see the logic behind it.”
Cogliandro said if the city is talking about lifting prohibition on tattoo establishments, he would like to see it available everywhere.
“Let’s take a two- or three-story mixed-use building; that would be ideal for a tattoo artist that wants to start his own shop with one or two chairs,” said Cogliandro.