A Cleveland man is putting his skin up for sale on eBay. It's a unique advertising opportunity, conceived by a head-strong tattoo artist.

Jeremy Martin, 21, says the target audience is anyone behind him, "At the gas station, at the grocery store, at the local mall."

For a price he'll tattoo the name and logo of the highest bidder on his head for $60,000 a year, "I will not take less then that, because I'm going to have a tattoo on the back of my head for the rest of my life."

So far 1100 people have inquired about the space for rent, but he's gotten no bidders, "I don't think anybody wants to be the first person to try something out."

For that measly $60,000 Jeremy is promising a car wrap, personalized plate and head tattoo, "So the advertisement doesn't stop when the car is parked."

He's promising to travel hundreds of miles a week. The auction ends on Thursday.

www.wistv.com

Members right to take another run at siting for new businesses

Residents along Airport Boulevard in North Myrtle Beach are right to be angry that City Council voted, on a preliminary basis, to stick tattooing parlors in the industrial section of their neighborhood. Why do that when the parlors would fit in well with the party-time atmosphere of some commercial areas along U.S. 17?

Council members, to their credit, appear to be getting the message. On Monday, they backed away from the scheduled final approval of a zoning amendment to accommodate tattooing establishments, which the state legalized earlier this year.

Why would the council even consider afflicting commercial businesses of any kind - let alone tattooing parlors - on a quiet neighborhood whose only "offense" is the proximity of industrial buildings? The answer, we're guessing, stems from the wrong-headed logic that the U.S. Supreme Court's stance on zoning for "adult" businesses has engendered in local governing bodies nationwide.

In its 1970s master decision on the subject, the high court said that speech-based businesses from which minors are excluded do not have a First Amendment right to open in any commercial zone. In the interest of public decency, said the court, local councils can sequester such businesses out of public view, as long as they provide for them to exist somewhere.

That's how so many X-rated movie houses and strip joints around the country have gotten stuck in industrial zones. In many instances, this makes a weird kind of sense. Example: Restrictive zoning in Myrtle Beach has forced many no-minors-allowed speech-based businesses to Seaboard Street between Mr. Joe White Avenue and U.S. 501. As a result, the area is morphing into a colorful "fun" zone replete with strip joints, an adult-video store, body-piercing parlors and - soon - tattooing shops, with your occasional metal fabricator, lighting supplier or car-repair shop thrown in.

But it doesn't and shouldn't follow from the Supreme Court's rulings on this subject that local governing bodies must place adult businesses in industrial zones - especially when said zones abut residential neighborhoods. The ambience along Airport Boulevard in North Myrtle Beach is different from the ambience along Seaboard Street, where the nearest residences, churches and schools are many blocks away.

Besides, a tattooing parlor is not the affront to public decency that a sex-themed no-minors business can be (the irony there being that North Myrtle Beach already has at least one sex-themed business on U.S. 17). Certainly, a tattoo parlor is no more in-your-face than, say, a beachwear store that sells henna tattoos (the kind that wash off eventually), or a drinking establishment devoted to partying instead of fine dining.

It's not as if the main drag through North Myrtle Beach is like the main drag through Palm Beach. A beach funk atmosphere is prevalent on U.S. 17 - and thank heaven for it. It would make more sense to group businesses that are open in the evening there than along a industrial/residential street that's quiet once residents arrive home for dinner.

City Council is right to take another run at this issue. The objective now should be to tailor tattooing zoning to the city's unique features rather than besmirching a modest neighborhood just because the Supreme Court says that's OK.

www.myrtlebeachonline.com

Go ahead and stare at the 1950s housewife tattooed on Mandy Becker's stomach or the art nouveau designs on her shoulders.

This stylish stay-at-home mom, 28, knows most people don't expect her to have permanent body art.

That's the point.

"It's fun when people see (my tattoos) because I don't think they'd usually guess that about me," said Vancouver's Becker. "I think a lot of people think of bikers when they think of tattoos.

"We have two kids and a dog and a mortgage. I'm on the PTA. ... But I think I've always tried to keep my age in mind," she said while driving her son, Sailor, 8, to football practice. "It's kind of fun to have people assume things about you, and then find out who you really are."

Turns out there are plenty of unexpected people who've adorned themselves with tattoos in Clark County. Teachers. Principals. Grandmothers. Librarians. Police officers. CEOs. Soccer moms.

More than 30 unlikely tattoo wearers wrote to us and sent pictures of ink-stained body parts including backs, arms and more (use your imagination) when we asked. Mandy Becker's mother-in-law, Cindi Becker, told us Mandy's unique story, which we chose as the winner of a $50 gift certificate to Beaches restaurant.

Mandy Becker, who has battled rheumatoid arthritis since she was 6 months old, has used tattoos to divert people's attention away from the scars left by 10 surgeries which included two hip and two shoulder replacements.

"This girl is a fighter," Cindi Becker said. "When she had her shoulders replaced, she just said, 'Well, people are going to stare at my ugly scars, so why not give them something pretty to look at?'"

After the shoulder replacements at age 23, Mandy Becker said she couldn't deal with "everybody looking at the scars and feeling sorry for me."

That's why she decided to etch pretty designs on both shoulders. They are her latest body art additions, bringing the total up to five.

"I felt so out of control of my body at that time," she said. "Getting the tattoos helped me feel a little more in control and funkier. It took some of the air out of the depression. ... It helped me feel that the (rheumatoid arthritis) wasn't just happening to me I was also happening to it."

Getting inked

These days, one in 10 Americans has a tattoo, up from one out of 100 three decades ago, according to the Alliance of Professional Tattooists. Yet it can still be surprising when a grandma or CEO flashes his or her tattoo, the ink-savvy say.

Book lovers are often shocked to see librarian Karen Holcomb's tattooed neck and leg. Holcomb, of Ridgefield, had a picture from Dr. Seuss' "Horton Hatches the Egg" book tattooed on her neck and a rendition of Monet's "Water Lilies" painted on her right leg.

"Most people are so taken aback by this conservative library lady having tattoos that they usually don't think they are real," Holcomb said. "Children are the most fun, as they are completely honest with their fascination and want to touch it."

Jennifer Bucher, a teacher at a local Catholic school, was sitting in a staff meeting three years ago when all the teachers were asked to share two true things they did over the summer and one lie. When she told her co-workers she'd had a scorpion tattooed on her right ankle, "the teacher sitting next to me licked her thumb and tried to rub it off."

Stephen Friebel is proud of his 12 tattoos, which include Bugs Bunny, a peace sign, his wife's name in a heart and "Mom" tattooed on his arm. "They are all out of sight on a daily basis because as the principal of (Vancouver's) Lewis and Clark High School, visible tattoos would likely make the parents of some of my students a bit nervous. Yet there are also a number of parents who think that it is pretty cool that the principal is 'tatted up.'"

Nobody surprises Ric Mason, owner of Painless Ric's tattoo shop in Camas, however. He's been marking people's bodies since the late 1960s. In the '70s and '80s, bikers frequented his shop. These days, he says just about anyone's skin is fair game.

"It's become more mainstream. Look at TV, look at the movies you see a lot of (actors) have tattoos. A lot of people look at (tattoos) and think it's a cool thing to do now," Mason said. "We get 18-year-olds up to people (who) are 70 or 80."

Kirk Johnson, a clinical psychologist at the Vancouver Guidance Clinic, attributes the popularity of tattoos in the mainstream to a quest for self expression.

"Certainly there seems to be this need for expression this need for individual uniqueness," he said. "It's an easy way to stand out in a world that sometimes may seem difficult to achieve some kind of notoriety."

Yet Johnson warns that not everyone looks favorably on body art. In a job interview, for example, tattoos have the potential to make a lasting, negative first impression. He suggests that those people who choose to get inked think carefully about the size and location of the tattoo.

"I see a lot of people in my practice that look at these tattoos (which they got when they were younger) and shake their heads at themselves," he said. "But those tend to be the large, obvious, in-your-face kind of tattoos. The tattoos soccer moms are getting don't tend to be very large they tend not to be the 'what the hell was I thinking' tattoos."

As for the pain of permanent body marking, local ink enthusiasts have different opinions. While Becker compares the feeling to a bee sting, others warn of more pain.

"One person will say it tickles and other people cry," Mason of Painless Ric's said. "People have different pain thresholds. (Overall), women tend to handle the pain better than guys do. I mean, if I had to give birth to a child, I'd probably die."



Did you know?

* Tattoo comes from the Tahitian word tatu which means "to mark something."

* It is believed that tattooing was first practiced by the Egyptians in approximately 2000 B.C.

* Britney Spears has a new tattoo, but apparently, something was lost in translation. The singer had some Hebrew symbols drawn on the back of her neck (to celebrate her recent conversion to Kabbalah faith), but "they are absolute gibberish," according to the London Sun. This isn't the first time Britney goofed on a tattoo. Last year she had a Chinese symbol tattooed on her hip, which she thought meant "mysterious" but actually meant "strange."



Look who has a tattoo ...

While we can't include everyone who wrote to us or called us about their tattoos, here's a few excerpts:

* For Roxanne Gustafson's 60th birthday, her three daughters, daughter-in-law and granddaughter took her on a trip to Hawaii. While there, Gustafson confessed that she'd always wanted a tattoo and worked up the nerve to march into a tattoo parlor. As a tribute to her, the whole birthday party also got ankle tattoos.

"When we returned from our trip, our families and co-workers didn't believe they were real," said Vancouver's Barbara Gordon, one of Gustafson's daughters. "As the word quickly spread about Mom's tattoo, many of her co-workers came running over to see it. Nobody could believe that this sweet, quiet grandmother had a tattoo. She spent the entire day pulling her pant leg up to show it off."

* Battle Ground's Ollie Kessinger is a major Willie Nelson fan. How major? Nelson's face is tattooed on this retired Clark County deputy sheriff's back.

"I have had the tattoo for about eight years and am thinking about getting another one of him in the near future," he said.

* Vancouver's Susan Briggs, known by family and friends as "the fish goddess," is wild about anything with gills. The 55-year-old grandmother, who works for the Washington State Fish and Game Department, has several tattoos.

"Most all of her (tattoos) are water-related, mostly fish such as trout, salmon and sturgeon though she has a few goddess symbols, too," said daughter Lori O'Brannon. "She did not start getting tattoos until about 1994 or so she had to wait until her mother died!"

* Tattoo-wearer Traci Johnson says there's a lot to love about tattoos, particularly when they're on her husband.

"He's Mr. Conservative who wears his hair in a flat top, wears a tie to work every day and is a regional manager of a Fortune 500 company," she said, adding that he got two tattoos as a gift to her. "I tell you, he was sexy before, but after that his sexability went up 1,000-fold."

* Vancouver's Judy Howard, 62, says her tattoo of the word "rebel" on her arm is a reminder of the hardships she overcame as a child.

"I had to grow up fast," she said. "So as part of my 'delayed growth' later in life, I decided to design a tattoo. … The thing is, I chose to do this outrageous and rebellious act in 1992 at the ripe old age of 50."

* When Jeanne Smith took up scuba diving at age 50, she decided to have a tattoo of her favorite fish (a moorish idol) drawn on her upper thigh.

"I had to chuckle when I recently joined a water exercise class and everyone stared at my tattoo but only one person had the guts to ask me about it," she said.

* Two of Donna Holman's three sons decided to get tattoos about 10 years ago. As a Christmas gift, they gave her a gift certificate for a tattoo.

"I have since lost one of my tattooed boys to a traffic accident, but every time I see my butterfly I think of him he was the one who insisted I get one and went with me when I got it," she said.

* Vancouver's Caroline Barr has a tattoo that's a tribute to a dear friend her cat.

"I have a 22-year-old grey cat. She has arthritis like me, but we both still get around very good," she said.

* Tara Kastner is proud of the floral tattoo that stretches across her lower back.

"To look at me, people think that I am just a conservative mom with a full-time job (at a property management company)," said Kastner, 32. "The last thing people think is that I would have a tattoo, especially one as big as it is, or have my belly button pierced."

www.columbian.com

Wunderle last U.S. archer standing; 2000 gold medalist upset

ATHENS, Greece - Blustery winds didn't deter Vic Wunderle Monday in his first step toward a third Olympic medal.

On the same day defending gold medalist Simon Fairweather of Australia was upset and both his U.S. teammates were defeated, Wunderle won his first elimination match at windy Panathinaiko Stadium.

The Mason City archer had two perfect 10s in his 18 shots to defeat Majhi Sawaiyan of India, 145-128. He advances to face Ming Huang Liu of China in today's eliminations.

"I am satisfied with my performance and my victory," said Wunderle, who in 2000 settled for a silver medal after losing to Fairweather in the finals. "There were some problems with the wind but that's part of the game."

Winds were apparently so gusty archers had difficulty holding their recurve bows steady and could only watch as arrows were blown off course along the 70-meter path to the target.

Americans Butch Johnson and John Magera of Carterville were both eliminated Monday, leaving Wunderle as the last hope for a U.S. individual men's archery medal.

Wunderle's Athens experience had started poorly last Thursday when he wound up 43rd out of 64 archers in the ranking-round shoot. To advance Wunderle will need to defeat a second higher-ranked archer. Liu ranks 11th while Sawaiyan had ranked 22nd.

But a change in venue appears to have helped Wunderle, who also has a team bronze medal from the 2000 games. The ranking round was shot at a nearby military base while all other competitions are held at Panathinaiko Stadium, a holdover from 1896.

"I visited Panathinaiko Stadium many years ago and I couldn't imagine that in the future I would have had the opportunity to compete at this venue," Wunderle said. "It's a unique moment for me and I am very proud to be here."

Individual competition for medals concludes Thursday.

www.pjstar.com

Martin and Carrie Waite wanted to reward their daughter for being “a good student,” but their reward violates her school’s dress code.

When she was 13 years old, Nicole Waite asked for a nose-piercing, her mother Carrie told the Walker County school board during its regular monthly meeting Monday night.



Her parents laid out a two-year plan for the Ridgeland High School student to earn the piercing.

“We told Nicole that if she would abstain from sex, take a purity vow, not do drugs, smoke cigarettes or drink alcohol, then at the age of 15 we would allow her to get her nose pierced,” Carrie said. “She held up her end of the bargain, and in trying to be good parents we felt we had to hold up to our end of the bargain (during the summer).”



Nicole said other students with similar piercings are not disciplined, and she said she felt “singled out.”

“I have quite a few friends and acquaintances who have facial piercings, many of which look like mine,” Nicole said. “Most of them have not been warned or punished for these, and I feel quite singled out. I believe if a rule is stated, it needs to be enforced equally.”

Following the board meeting, interim board member Mike North said he was concerned about the possibility a rule may be uniformly enforced, and felt it should be investigated.

Removing the piercing could present health problems for her daughter, Carrie said.

“Because the skin is so thin, it has to be repierced every two or three hours,” she said. “Taking it out (during school) is not an option.”

Nicole said she is willing to work with teachers and administrators, but beseeched the board to allow her to keep the piercing.

“I am willing to wear a nose plug, which is invisible, or a Band-Aid over it, but please understand it is very important to me to keep my nose-piercing,” Nicole said.

The board took the family’s comments under advisement.

news.mywebpal.com

Body piercing is one of the latest teenage fads. Now the city is trying to amend a ordinance to make piercing safer and give parents more control.

State law requires you to be 18 years old to get a tattoo or a body piercing...but many teens get around that...and that's causing the health department major concern about their safety.
The current city ordinance allows the health department to enforce illegal tattooing, but not body piercing. If an amended ordinance passes, that will change.
Individual tattoo and body piercing artists would have to be licensed, and also keep records on all clients, including a copy of an I.D. that verifies their age. Health department officials say this will help them enforce state law, and keep teens safe from unsanitary conditions. But one local tattoo shop owner says even though the ordinance sounds good, it may backfire.
"If they go to shops and because of the enforcement they're not piercing minors, they may just go underground," Tattoo shop owner Orlando Rodriguez said.
There will be a public hearing on the proposed changes to the ordinance on March 23rd at City Council.

www.ktsm.com

Christina Aguilera has removed all of her infamous piercings, except for her favourite one.



The pop princess had a total of 11 body piercings at one time - including ones in her belly button, eyebrow, lip, nose and tongue.

Aguilera once admitted to having a piercing done whenever she was unhappy in her life.

But Christina, who is currently dating record executive Jordan Bratman, is said to be much happier now.

The Dirrty girl says she is rebelling against herself by losing the jewellery, all except for a cheeky one in her nipple, that is.

www.itv.com

Some tattoo artists worry zoning laws will limit their businesses to certain parts of town. Local governments are starting to zone their cities and towns for tattoo parlors.

South Carolina passed a law this year making it legal to give tattoos, leaving Oklahoma as the last state in the nation that still bans tattoos. An Oklahoma bill to legalize and regulate tattooing in Oklahoma failed in that state's Senate in March.

The Department of Health and Environmental Control must write regulations, get approval from the agency's board, hold public hearings and send the new rules to the Legislature, which has to approve the regulations.

That can't happen before next year, because the Legislature doesn't reconvene until January. If the rules are approved, then artists can begin applying for licenses to open shop.

In May DHEC's George Moore told WIS News 10 the agency hopes to have regulations to the General Assembly by next February.

Governor Mark Sanford signed the law in June. He says he supported lifting the ban on tattoos as long as public health is protected. He says he's confident the bill will protect the public.

The law requires tattoo artists to use disposable needles and obtain a parent's permission for anyone ages 18 to 21 to get a tattoo. The bill also bans tattooing of the face, neck and head. No one under 18 can get a tattoo.

It also allows cities and counties to use zoning laws to regulate where tattoo parlors are located.

Like many other states across the country, South Carolina passed a law in the 1960s to outlaw tattooing. Many residents have traveled to neighboring states to get their bodies decorated.

www.wistv.com

From the drone of bagpipes to the silent precision of a drill team to the soldier wearing — well, some sort of shaggy camo outfit that made him look like a sea monster — this year's Tattoo was a stirring spectacle.
We're talking about the third Rochester International Marine Tattoo, a patriotic “musical rodeo” of sorts with hundreds of performers from the United States and abroad.

The event, which had been on a two-year hiatus, returned Saturday and Sunday to the Blue Cross Arena at the Community War Memorial.

Local performances came from the likes of the Rochester Scottish Pipes & Drums, the Young School of Irish Dance and the Gymnastics Training Center of Rochester.

National- and international-level performances were presented by the U.S. Army Drill Team, the Royal British Legion Band, the Royal Canadian Regiment's Pipe and Drums and the 2nd Marine Division Band.

As show opener and County Executive Maggie Brooks put it Sunday, “it gives us all a chance to express our patriotism and pride and show support to the military men and women who continue to serve.”

Brig. Gen. Kevin M. Sankuhler and families of soldiers who have died in Iraq were honored guests.

The origin of “tattoo” is 17th-century Dutch, deriving from “do den tap toe,” meaning “turn off the taps.” Innkeepers used the term to refer to the drummer whose marching warned imbibing soldiers to return to their barracks. The saying was shortened to “tap toe” and anglicized to “tattoo.”

Tattoos were held in Rochester in 2000 and 2001 and played to large crowds. But the event was not held here in 2002, when work was being done on the arena. In 2003, military groups were not available.

Any profits will go to the Marine Corps' family-readiness program, which helps families of service personnel, and the local Unity Health Foundation.

“It's just good old-fashioned pageantry and patriotism,” said John Demby, a retired Marine from Rochester.

www.democratandchronicle.com

Singer Christina Aguilera has removed all her famous piercings - except one.

Only a nipple has been spared a cull of 11 pieces of body jewellery.



Gone are her piercings in her ears, belly button, eyebrow, lip and tongue "in a kind of rebellion", she said.

"I've taken out all my piercings apart from one in my right nipple. That's for me," she is reported as saying in The Sun.

One of her friends said Christina was "well past the piercing thing" and was enjoying life with record executive boyfriend Jordan Bratman.

"At least now airport metal detectors won't go crazy when she passes through," she said.

Christina once admitted that she had piercings whenever she was unhappy in her life.

www.sky.com

Singer Christina Aguilera has removed all her famous piercings - except one.

Only a nipple has been spared a cull of 11 pieces of body jewellery.



Gone are her piercings in her ears, belly button, eyebrow, lip and tongue "in a kind of rebellion", she said.

"I've taken out all my piercings apart from one in my right nipple. That's for me," she is reported as saying in The Sun.

One of her friends said Christina was "well past the piercing thing" and was enjoying life with record executive boyfriend Jordan Bratman.

"At least now airport metal detectors won't go crazy when she passes through," she said.

Christina once admitted that she had piercings whenever she was unhappy in her life.

www.sky.com

A 26-year-old skateboarder is scarred for life after she fell onto a red-hot Con Edison manhole cover — mere blocks from the scene of a tragic death earlier this year when a woman stepped onto an electrified Con Ed cover.
Magazine receptionist and DJ Liz Wallenberg told The Post she was skating to see friends at an East Village club early Wednesday when she hit a bump in the road at 13th Street and Second Avenue.



"I landed with my arm and back straight onto the metal cover," Wallenberg said. "I noticed it was kind of hot, but I didn't realize how bad it was until my skin started to sizzle."

A distressed Wallenberg lifted her shirt and saw a large red imprint from the manhole cover on her back. She rushed to the next block, to Second Avenue nightspot Second Nature, to get her friends' help.

They took her to the emergency room at Beth Israel Hospital, where she spent the next seven hours.

"It was such awful pain," Wallenberg said. "There was blistering, and it was like I was branded. You can see the 'O' and the 'N' from 'Con Edison.' The doctor said a lot of this will scar for life."

The accident occurred two blocks from where psychology student Jodie Lane died on Jan. 16. The 30-year-old woman was walking her two dogs when she stepped onto an electrified manhole cover and died instantly.


A mixture of melted snow and salt, which corroded electrical wires, was found to have caused Lane's death — which stunned New Yorkers and led to community outcry.

Con Ed publicly apologized for Lane's death in February while the electricity giant's safety practices were put under the microscope. A spokesman for Con Ed at the time said an audit of all manhole covers in Manhattan deemed them safe.

But when asked yesterday about the latest incident, spokesman Chris Olert said they were "looking into" the incident.

"If there is a problem there, we'll fix it," he said, admitting that the incident sounded "severe."

But Wallenberg, who lives in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, said: "They promised they would check everything and fix those problems. And now I have a manhole cover [branded] on my back."

She said she's considering legal action against Con Ed, as she was unable to work for three days — nor was she able to perform her regular set, as "DJ L-Train," at the Williamsburg club Metropolitan on Wednesday.

"I'm on prescription creams and painkillers," she said. "I ache all over, and I find it really hard to sit down."

www.nypost.com

How often do you see a group of nine thirty to sixty year old women at a tattoo parlor? That's just what you would have seen at the recent Pancreatic Cancer Action Network Conference. Nine women ranging in age from 30 to 60, including 2 librarians, got permanant tattoos of the purple Pancreatic Cancer ribbon, to raise awareness of this devastating disease.


Bel Air, MD (PRWEB) August 15, 2004 -- Local business librarian, Lara Perrault is thirty-three. Well past the age that most people acquire their first tattoo. However, while attending a recent Pancreatic Cancer conference, a group of nine women ranging in age from thirty to sixty decided to get tattoos.

Lara lost her mother in January to Pancreatic Cancer. "It has been just devastating. My mother was sixty-four years old, the picture of health and recently retired. We took her to the emergency room for what we thought was gallbladder pain. They diagnosed her with Pancreatic Cancer and five weeks later she passed away."

Pancreatic Cancer is the 4th leading cause of cancer deaths. It has a 99% mortality rate and the average lifespan after diagnosis is just three to six months. Every year 32,000 people will be diagnosed with it and 31,000 people will die. However, it recieves just .6 of 1% of the National Cancer Institutes funding for cancer research.

"I had never even heard of Pancreatic Cancer until my mother was diagnosed. The doctors told us there was no treatment available and that my mother would die. It was amazing to me that in this day and age nothing could be done.” said Perrault.

After, her mother passed away, Lara decided to turn her grief into action to help raise awareness and get research funding for this devastating disease. She is volunteering with the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network to form an affiliate for Northern Maryland. She will be hosting a "People and Pooches for Pancan" walk on October 23rd, to raise awareness and research money for this disease.

While attending a training conference for Pancan's volunteers, Lara and eight other women decided to get the purple Pancreatic Cancer Ribbon tattooed on their bodies.

"I never thought I would have a tattoo." said Perrault. "I decided to get one to raise awareness of this devastating disease." Ms. Perrault's tattoo is on her ankle. It is the Purple Pancreatic Cancer Ribbon, with an angel.

"This was very out of character for me, but I'm so happy to have done it. When people ask me about it I have a chance to talk to them about Pancreatic Cancer and what they can do to help."

www.prweb.com

COLUMBIA, S.C. - From North Myrtle Beach to Hilton Head Island and places inland, local governments are beginning to zone their cities and towns for tattoo parlors, leaving some of the needling artists little room to locate.

Even though South Carolina's ban on tattooing has been lifted by legislators, tattooists still face potentially stiff rules that will restrict where they can set up shop. Some say location is crucial, and they don't want to be forced to open shop near porn stores or strip clubs.

They also say its another form of discrimination against and stereotyping of those who give and get tattoos, but some local officials have said it's a sensitive issue and might need further regulations.

Before any legal tattoos are given, the state Department of Health and Environmental Control must craft regulations that need the Legislature's approval.

Those rules, which are at least six months from being complete, contain few zoning requirements, only limiting tattoo businesses from within 1,000 feet of a church, school or playground.

However, some locals are taking the zoning a step farther.

About two years ago, the City of Myrtle Beach restricted tattoo parlors to medical areas, where rent could be high, and light industrial areas, which also are set aside for strip clubs and body piercing businesses.

"We were well ahead of the curve on this," city spokesman Mark Kruea said. The town council didn't want the businesses on popular Ocean Boulevard.

"That's an accommodations, commercial, amusement area, and council didn't see the compatibility there," Kruea said.

Forcing tattoo shops to locate near adult entertainment clubs and novelty stores just reinforces stereotypes associated with tattoos, says John Black, a Georgia tattooist who has fought the South Carolina ban since the early 1990s. Oklahoma is now the only state to ban the practice.

Black and his wife, Susan, own Lady Luck Tattoos in Ludowici, Ga., about 70 miles southwest of Hilton Head Island, which also recently zoned for tattoo parlors.

Tattoos have long been associated with seedy and sketchy people, said Black, who was once compared to a drug dealer at a Statehouse committee meeting. "I think that's about as low as you can go," said the 43-year-old father of two.

"That's the old way of thinking. We're not those people. We are actual artists, and our medium is the human body," Black said.

Hilton Head Island Town Councilman George Williams realizes it's not just sailors and soldiers getting tattoos anymore, but he still voted against the town's zoning proposal because it would put the businesses in the area he represents.

"I think it's the way most of us were brought up," he said. "Of course, this is changing very rapidly with all these young girls and guys with tattoos on their hips and their shoulders and their necks."

The town council on the island, known for its strict building codes and development rules, voted to confine tattoo shops to a small area near the entrance of Sea Pines, the resort that houses the Harbour Town Lighthouse and shops along the Calibogue Sound.

"We just wanted to make sure we had the land-use controls in place for when somebody came to apply for a permit to open a tattoo place," Williams said.

The town already has a no-neon sign rule and limits the number of gas stations at intersections, so it wasn't a surprise it was one of the first in South Carolina to limit tattoo parlors.

Black anticipates the zoning issue will spawn lawsuits, which Hilton Head officials did consider.

Chet Williams, an attorney who follows land-use issues on the island, said the town must give a permitted business a reasonable place to locate or face being sued.

He said local governments will have to walk a fine line in zoning tattoo parlors, but, he said, "It is possible to walk it."

In Florence, officials are in the planning stages, questioning whether residential setbacks or other restrictions should be considered.

"We want to be diligent in researching this to be fair to businesses and communities," said Glynn Willis, chairman of the Florence County municipal planning commission. "It's a sensitive community issue."

Black promises he will one day practice his trade in Charleston, which might have the most attractive zoning regulations thus far.

Currently, the city will allow tattoo parlors in some business areas including downtown along King Street where body piercing stores also are permitted, said zoning administrator Lee Batchelder.

He cautioned the rules could change, but said, "Charleston certainly isn't Hilton Head in terms of being a real city. I don't view them as a traditional city with a downtown."

Still, Black said he's not buying any property or spending any money until he finds out exactly "where they're going to stick me."

www.thestate.com

Citizens on Airport Boulevard in North Myrtle Beach oppose an industrial zone where the city wants to put tattoo parlors in their neighborhoods.

Based on the recommendation of the Planning Commission, a majority of City Council approved earlier this week the first reading of an ordinance to allow tattoo parlors in limited industrial areas in the city.

The city has three such areas, including City Hall on Second Avenue South, Vereen Drive (west side of U.S. 17 North) and The Grand Strand Airport.

The council will have to approve the change at its next council meeting Monday before it could go into effect.

"While on the map it may look industrial, we definitely have neighborhoods here," said Bill Sandberg, who lives on Airport Boulevard. "If this is the type of business City Council decided is inappropriate to put in a business section - along U.S. 17- why would you stick it in a residential neighborhood where there are children?" Sandberg asked.

The Planning Commission last month approved changing the city's zoning ordinance after Gov. Mark Sanford signed a bill in June lifting the state's 40-year ban on tattooing.

The change allows tattoo parlors only in limited industrial areas, which include businesses such as warehousing, office buildings, boat yards and body-piercing parlors.

City officials chose limited industrial areas instead of commercial areas to put tattoo parlors because body-piercing is allowed there and they do not want them on U.S. 17.

"Our intention is to put them in unusual places for adult entertainment," Councilman Bob Cavanaugh said.

By state law, the parlors are required to be at least 1,000 feet away from churches, schools and playgrounds.

Pastor Dana Nile at Coastal Christian Center on 33rd Avenue South said 1,000 feet is not far enough from the church for a tattoo parlor because he thinks they could bring in bad ele-
ments.

"I would rather not have one," Nile said. "Right down the street is a strip club in Atlantic Beach. I would like to see all that cleaned up."

Missy Smith, a resident on Airport Boulevard, raised concerns of children in the area being exposed to the parlors and thinks that traffic will create a problem.

She says traffic is already heavy with lifeguards coming in and out of the North Strand Beach Service office located on Airport Boulevard.

"My opinion is that the city is putting it there to get them out of their sight - off the main road - as a way to hide them," Smith said.

"We have 17 children in the area. Our street is the closest to the industrial area. Why does it have to be strictly industrial when you have these beach stores along U.S. 17?"

Paul Blust, North Myrtle Beach zoning administrator, said planning officials do not have any plans at this point of changing the designated area for tattoo parlors in the city because it is before the council.

"The city council can consider something different," he said. "It would be inappropriate for the planning department to step in at this point. We certainly will be willing to do whatever the city council wants."

Mayor Marilyn Hatley said she has received a couple of calls from people asking the city to reconsider putting tattoo parlors in limited industrial areas.

"I have not had an opportunity to speak with the city manager to see if there is a better place for them," she said.

"I think the concern is not with tattoos, but with putting tattoo parlors in their neighborhoods because of the traffic and hours of business the parlors would have. It's something we will look into further."

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