Tattoo parlor's 'adult entertainment' label KOs opening

A file image shows a pink tattoo machine that symbolizes the fight against breast cancer, March 23, 2017. (REUTERS/Susana Vera)

A Tennessee tattoo parlor has been forced to redraw its plans due
to a law that labels the business “adult entertainment,” WSMV reported.

The Mount Juliet law, enacted in 2013, states that tattoo parlors
fall under the “adult entertainment business category” and adult stores are prohibited from operating in commercial zones and can only operate in the industrial district.

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“Nowhere in my time being a tattoo artist has sex ever been a part of it. Why are we not classified in the same category as beauty shops, which are regulated by the health department, which we are?” said Michael Lanning, who planned to open Division Street Tattoo before he was sidelined.

Lanning applied for a business license, but received a call on Monday saying he could not operate in a commercial zone.

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“The city only learned about this business late last week when the owner applied for a business license and myself today, in which I contacted them immediately. There have been no approvals given by the city for this business. No permits were ever pulled for the new sign they installed, nor were building permits were ever pulled to cover the remodel of the existing space. Had they followed proper procedures by pulling the appropriate permits or at least contacting the Zoning Department they would have been informed sooner that the use was not allowed in their current zoning district,” Mount Juliet Zoning Administrator, Jennifer Stewart, told WSMV.

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City leaders said the only option is that the business be operated in the industrial district; however, city commissioners said Monday they are willing to sit down and talk with Lanning and his wife Hannah about the business at a later date.