COVINGTON, Ga. —A pair of tattoo artists and a downtown landlord petitioned the city council to consider revising its downtown area ordinances to allow tattoo parlors to operate on a case-by-case basis by requiring a special use permit. 

On Feb. 2, the Covington City Council voted 4-2 to allow the city to initiate the ordinance revision, but the vote does not mean that the matter is settled. The topic will go before the planning commission before being brought to the city council once more. This will provide the public with multiple opportunities to speak for or against the idea before a final decision is made.

Jennifer Hartman, the owner of the Social Goat Tavern, Billy’s Bites and multiple adjacent downtown suites, introduced the council to Jessica and Austin Sells at Monday night’s meeting. Hartman said that the tattoo artists have expressed an interest in opening a parlor at the vacant 1111 Church St. suite.

Hartman said she supports the venture for a variety of reasons. For one, she said that the layout of the suite is unique, making it ill-suited for a restaurant or retail establishment. Another point was that introducing a tattoo parlor would not compete with any of the Square’s current storefronts.

“I didn't want to put a dessert shop there, which is some of the people that had contacted me, because we just put a new tenant in–FRIO [Rolled Ice Cream]—and I wouldn't want to impede on their business,” Hartman said. 

Councilman Travis Moore, who voted in opposition alongside Mayor Pro-tem Jared Rutberg, said he fears setting a precedent for future businesses petitioning the council for.

Moore urged the council to be cautious when hearing requests for zoning changes, saying the purpose of rezoning should not be to aid someone’s business venture.

“We allow it [tattoo shops] in M1 [light industrial] and CM [corridor-mixed use] already,” Moore said. “But what I'm referring to is just anybody coming to us and saying, ‘Hey, I had rather use a business decision for you to change the zoning and add additional uses.’ That's not what zoning is meant for. It is not meant to address nor fix your business decisions. It's meant for proper planning, smart planning and smart zoning.” 

Moore expressed his concern that this could lead to the city finding itself at the end of a lawsuit for selectively approving and denying these requests. However, the city attorney said he does not foresee this setting a precedent that would eventually put the city in a poor legal standing.

Jessica Sells, who is presently a tattoo artist at Til Death Tattoo on Pace Street, said that tattooing regulations are extensive in the modern day and that a shop would strive to be a positive reflection of the local community.

“Tattooing today is highly regulated as a profession,” Jessica Sells said. “We complete annual bloodborne pathogen certifications, CPR, first aid, fire safety, incident management training, and the Department of Health inspects our studio every six months.”

The petitioners added that the shop would be sought out by tourists and locals alike, with the artists noting that they already tattoo dozens of Vampire Diaries pieces each month from their location off the Square. 

“I'm a business owner, and I'm here to promote the Square, not just my own businesses. I don't want an insurance office that doesn't bring foot traffic,” Hartman said. “...I don't want a real estate office that doesn't bring foot traffic. I want to see foot traffic on our Square. I want to see it vibrant. And I think that there are very few things that bring foot traffic for leisure.”

Moore—who emphasized that his stance is unrelated to the business of tattooing—reiterated his standpoint that this would be a move to edit zoning based on someone’s business decisions.

“And I'm not looking at it through a moral or personal—and when I say, business decisions, when I hear you say you won't allow a restaurant to go in there, or you know, ‘hey, it's a difficult layout’ or I hear, ‘hey I'd rather not be a quarter mile down the road where it's already allowed, I'd rather be on the Square to where I've got more visibility,’ those are business decisions,” Moore said. “And I just don't know—I think you’re headed on a slippery slope if you start changing your usages and your zonings based on those things, if that makes sense.”

Councilman Dwayne Turner voiced his opinion about focusing on the future as opposed to the present applicant.

“Right now, on Feb. 2, we’re talking about a tattoo shop, not other potential businesses,” Turner said. “...It's not the precedent, but we’re talking about a tattoo shop at the very moment. We can handle that going forward.”

Turner also spoke about the positive feedback he had received from another Square business owner about the prospect and advocated to set the ordinance update in motion to create space for additional public input through the necessary public hearings.

“That’s my opinion, but if we’re sending it to a public hearing, I am a big fan of letting the public come up and speak against and speak for,” Turner said. “That is my personal opinion.”