Town of Southport

COUPLE TO KEEP FIGHTING FOR TATTOO PARLOR:

A couple who had their home-based tattooing business approved by the town of Southport only to see the decision reversed have vowed to carry on the fight.

The town Planning Board initially approved plans of Terri Ennis and Jason Hallett to operate the tattoo and body piercing parlor along with partner Tony Thompson at 1001 Charles St.

However, following protests by nearby residents, the Town Board asked the Southport Board of Appeals to review the Planning Board decision to see if the proposed business actually meets zoning requirements for a residential neighborhood.

The Board of Appeals reversed the earlier decision after a public hearing last Thursday, and Ennis said she was shocked and outraged by the ruling.
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In the meantime, Town Board member Etta Kay Dewey, who lobbied on behalf of tattoo parlor opponents to have the Board of Appeals review the situation, said the town avoided setting a dangerous precedent.

"This was going to be precedent setter for the town of Southport. I made this my cause," Dewey said. "I knew if it could go in there, it could technically go in anywhere. I did a lot of door-to-door. We raised a lot of awareness of it. The community came together as one."

Dewey also dismissed Ennis' claim that Board of Appeals members took only five minutes to reach a decision because their minds were already made up.

"This is the first time the Board of Appeals has ever been called upon to make a decision like this," she said. "They put a lot of time and effort and thought into this."

I probably would have advised the Town Board to stay out of a land use planning decision like this unless a local law gives it a specific role, as with a special use permit, for example. The Planning Board exists precisely to make this type of decision, and a ZBA should entertain the matter only because aggrieved parties have brought an appeal, not because the Town Board pressures them into taking it up sua sponte.