At a meeting Thursday night, the Temple City Council approved amendments to the City's Code of Ordinances and Unified Development Code that will allow tattoo and body piercing studios to operate within city limits under strict criteria.

Since 1996, City Code Chapter 16, Article VIII had prohibited the operation of any tattoo shop by anyone other than a licensed physician. The council voted to delete that article entirely.

Article V of the Unified Development Code, which had listed "tattoo parlor" as a prohibited use, received the following amendments:

- Deleting "tattoo parlor" as a prohibited use.
- Adding definitions for "body piercing," "body piercing studio," "tatoo," and "tattoo studio."
- Allowing tattoo and body piercing studios to locate in the General Retail, Commercial, Light Industrial, and Heavy Industrial zoning districts with the following limitations:
- A studio may not be located within 1,000 feet of another studio.
- A studio may not be located within 1,000 feet of public or private school.
- A studio may not be located within 1,000 feet of a church.
- A studio may not be located on property within the I-35 Corridor Overlay or any designated Strategic Investment Grant Corridor.
- In the General Retail Zoning District, a studio may not be located within 200 feet of zoning districts such as Urban Estates, Single-Family Dwelling 1, 2, or 3, Single-Family Attached Dwelling 1, 2, or 3, Two-Family Dwelling, or Townhouse
- A hand washing sink separate from a restroom sink is required.

The amendments went into effect immediately.

The owners of Lucky in Love Tattoo Shop located in Morgan's Point Resort reportedly announced Friday that they would be opening a shop in Temple. Their website hosts a page dedicated to the Temple Texas Tattoo Advocacy Group, which aimed to persuade the Temple City Council of the unconstitutionality of the former tattoo parlor ban.

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