YORK COUNTY, S.C. — More tattoo shops can now open in York County.
Right now, The Local Tattoo in Clover is the only studio in the entire county, and it just opened in the fall. Some say that’s because the rules have been so strict.
“It wasn’t a ban. We were restricting them out by all the stipulations they had to meet,” Councilman William “Bump” Roddey told Channel 9′s Tina Terry.
Roddey is talking about an old county ordinance that required tattoo parlors to be 200 feet or more away from any lot located in a residential district.
“...So we went back in and loosened the language, and the only requirement we have now is that tattoo establishments can’t be within 300 feet of each other,” he said.
The new ordinance that just passed this month impacts all unincorporated areas of the county. Image Studios, a beauty salon on Celanese Road in Rock Hill, is in one of those areas.
“One of our goals in opening the studio is to build a beauty community,” said owner Chris Chamberlin. “In order to have a community, you want to have a lot of beauty professionals included in there.”
He said the new ordinance will allow him to rent space to a tattoo artist. It’s something he couldn’t have done under the old ordinance.
Incorporated cities and towns have their own rules. In Rock Hill, the zoning ordinance says personal services like tattoo parlors “must be separated by at least 1,000 feet” from things like daycares, schools, parks, and residential areas.
The Town of Fort Mill told Channel 9 the following: “Zoning in the Town of Fort Mill does allow for tattoo facilities in areas with Highway Commercial Zoning, but are restricted by distance requirements to churches, schools, playgrounds or by an approved overlay. Tattoo facilities must provide and maintain state licensure.”
Both Roddey and Chamberlin say they hope all cities within York County will revisit their rules on tattoo parlors.
“There’s so many other people that are getting tattoos at hotel parties, garage parties,” Chamberlin said. “One, it’s not safe. Two, it’s illegal.”
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