Published: September 20, 2006 04:57 pm      

Tattoo shop locations discussed

DUNCAN — By Derrick Miller

The agenda was short but the meeting was long.

Members of the Duncan Municipal Planning Commission addressed a couple of topics over a 2 1/2-hour period at Tuesday’s regular meeting but took no official action on either item.

The members began drafting regulations and codes for tattoo parlors in Duncan city limits.

The launching point for the discussion was state regulations already in place and the focus became the appropriate locations for those parlors.

Richie Dennington, commission member, said, “It’s not derogatory to a neighborhood. There won’t be a whole string of them.

“The state regulations are pretty much taking care of themselves.”

State regulations mandate that tattoo shops will not be allowed within 1,000 feet of churches, schools and playgrounds. The members discussed the need to locate the businesses away from residential areas, too.

Throughout the discussion, the commission talked to a tattoo and body-piercing parlor owner, Jason Shell, who provided insight into dealing with state regulations, which included relocating his business.

“I think state regulations are great,” Shell said. “I don’t understand the churches. But I understand the schools and playgrounds.”

Toward the end of the discussion, the members began to talk about whether the location issue should be used “on review” or used “on right.”

Clyde Shaw, city manager, said, “I can’t see it being a problem unless it’s next to a residential location.”

The commission discussed having the location issue a “use by review” situation when it was within 300 feet and “use by right” when it was outside of 300 feet from a residential area.

If approved, the regulation would require all residential areas within 300 feet of a tattoo establishment to be notified of the business’ intentions to move in and all concerns would be addressed.

The commission will continue the discussion at its next meeting to draft a recommendation to be reviewed by the Duncan City Council at its Oct. 26 meeting.

The commission also discussed drafting a city code to deal with residential outside storage and merchandise regulations.

Dana Schoening, community development director, said, “We’re trying to deal with the accumulation of what I would call ‘junk and salvage items.’

“There aren’t that many, but it is becoming more of a problem. I think it’s time we start dealing with it here.”

The members focused mainly on getting an outline for the draft on where outside storage items should be kept. Many of the situations discussed focused on items in the front yard that seemed to lower the prestige of the neighborhood.

“This is something that will affect everybody in some way,” Schoening said. “It may be your neighbor.

“It says a lot about the neighborhood and the community.”

One of the concerns raised was the difficulty accumulated items posed to firefighting personnel.

“I think it’s hazardous sometimes to fire personnel,” Schoening said during the meeting.

The commission agreed that the items should be out of sight from neighboring yards. The members said the outside storage should not be located in the front or side yards without a proper screen, such as a fence, blocking the view of the items.

Of the places the items could be kept, the commission mentioned keeping the items in the back yard, which would keep the items out of sight for the most part.

“We think the items should be moved into more appropriate locations on the property,” Schoening said. “We just want to get them out of sight.

At the next meeting, the members will continue the discussion on residential outdoor storage, and will begin discussing commercial outdoor storage and merchandise.

“There are a lot of businesses putting a lot more stuff on the highway than they ever did,” he said, during the meeting. “We need to focus on them.

“The display of merchandise has become the biggest hassle.”

Duncan Municipal Planning Commission meets at 5:30 p.m. on the third Tuesday of each month in the Council Chambers in the Duncan Police Department at Seventh and Willow.